


Fire Doesn't Always Burn

by framby



Category: Glee
Genre: Bullying, Frottage, Gunshot, Kurt Big Bang - Freeform, Kurt Hummel Big Bang, M/M, Mention of guns, Panic Attacks, slowbuild, trust issue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-05
Updated: 2014-10-05
Packaged: 2018-02-20 00:50:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2409077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/framby/pseuds/framby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All of his life Kurt has lived in a castle and in his kingdom, surrounded by his peers: the magmermaid, a kind of mermaid made of lave and magma instead of water. But Kurt's curiosity pushes him to go and explore the Human's world, where he'll have to deal with a brand new set of rules, a dapper and mysterious roommate and a wild baby sitter slash bodyguard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fire Doesn't Always Burn

**Author's Note:**

> The amazing art was made by [riverance](http://riverance.tumblr.com/post/99238415788/a-cover-for-amazing-story-fire-doesnt-always), my very patient and kind beta was hazelandglasz. It's been a long time since I wrote something that big, I hope you'll like it.

Kurt sighed, looking at yet another bundle of lava smearing on the Other Earth. Lava was free, it didn’t ask permission to go wherever it wanted, it didn’t have to get special guards to roll on The Upper Earth and go wherever it wanted.

Lava just spilled out of volcano, spurting millions of droplets of fire. Kurt made sure he was still alone and that no human was around before he shifted into his solid form. As a magma people he could melt into lava and joint with volcano rock to turn almost invisible as well as  be in his solid form. His upper half body would turn as hard as volcano rock  with a  few angry red filament of magma all over his chest and arms. Most of the time, when Kurt turned into his solid form, fog formed around him as his body turned colder. His lower body was made of hot bubbling lava before ending in a fiery tail. In his solid form Kurt could turned it into as many appendices as he would need to fit the royal protocol.

But right now, all Kurt wanted to do was to look at the sky. He detached himself from the dark rock of the volcano, crossed his arms under his head and rested against the edge of the volcano to look right up. Blue was most probably his favorite color. They didn’t have much blue in the Core Earth except for when the Ignis decided to go and play in the most copper charged parts of their world.

Then again, “Sky” was such a strange concept for him. Kurt never understood why he could see it but not touch it, or even why it was so far and yet looked so close. He didn’t understand how it could be grey, blue but also peacefully pink, furious red or orange.

Kurt knew that there was a lot he didn’t know and his teacher was too much of an old goat to actually take time to teach him anything interesting about the Other Earth.  Kurt wanted to know what a human looked like, what they ate and where they lived. He wanted to understand water and also grass, things he only ever heard about. Kurt was curious of how it would feel of the reasons that made it smell funny when he was at the top of volcanoes, empty, void almost like it had been washed out of any odor. Kurt wanted to know things that his teacher never mentioned in class, he wanted to learn by traveling and experimenting. He had often dreamt of following the lava out of the volcano, as he knew he would have no problem melting with it and he could travel on it for as far as it went. One issue remained: leaving volcanoes was forbidden and only an handful of privileged had had been granted the right to ascendent on the Other Earth.

Kurt looked one more time into the infinite blue, wishing he could stayed there a little longer before sending a silent kiss to the sky and traveling back to the heart of the volcano.

He didn’t need to go too deep in the pit  before being able to travel back to Incendium. The castle was built on the underground, surrounding by thousands of alcoves naturally made by the volcano to become shelters for everyone who needed a home. Magma people liking being able to turn from their fluid form into the solid one it was the reason why they could either used the ponds between each island or to travel around the city in the Magma road.

Kurt swam in the viscous liquid as fast as possible, traveling hundred of thousand miles to arrive on time at the audience his father was holding. It was common for the King to open the gate of his castle and let people in, receiving spokespersons of the Ignis People  at least once a year to be sure to take the best decision for his people. Kurt’s presence was not only required: it was essential. He had to meet with the spokesperson in charge for the youngest part of the population and treated any and all information as he saw fit.

Kurt rushed as fast as his fire tail allowed him, trying not to push anyone in his speed. He needed to be in the castle before his father came looking for him: no one knew where he disappeared and Kurt wanted it to stayed that way, at least until he had time to talk about it with his father.

When Kurt finally hit the solid part of the castle he turned into his solid form and ran into the volcano rocked castle, slaloming between people and hoping no one would stop him to ask anything. Luckily for him it didn’t happen and soon enough he was in his room stumbling in front of his mirror.

As all Ignis people he didn’t have clothes to wear as Flora people would, but Kurt still had rules about how to appear in public during Royal audiences. He had to wear his hair in red flames or not at all, his upper body solid rock and dark. As for his lower appendices Kurt,  princely role, would have to have formed three, each one  a different shade of orange. If he had been the King, he would have had four and they would have been red.

Kurt made his hair switched a dozen time before getting the exact shade he wanted. It wasn’t fully specified in the protocol if they had to wear lines of magma on their upper body but Kurt decided to. He looked at himself and made appears three thin vertical lines of orange magma on both of his cheeks, the liquid forming pearls at the bottom of every one.  Kurt took a final look at himself before walking out of the room and toward his father’s office.

The audiences took place late into the night and when Kurt finally said his goodbye to the last spokesperson he fell back into his chair, closed his eyes and enjoyed the silence for a second. It was only short lived and soon enough Kurt heard his father laugh right behind him before feeling an affectionate pat on the back of his head.

“How did it went son?”  Burt asked, sitting on the chair next to Kurt.

“As good as it went for you, I guess.”

“It’s not an answer, Kurt.”

“It was frustrating, Dad. Too many complaints I can only agree with and not enough resources or knowledge to answer them all. “ Kurt answered looking straight into his father’s eyes. He had felt terrible all day listening to those people. He had felt terrible because he wanted to help them, he wanted to be able to do something and yet he often felt powerless.

“I know, it’s not always a nice job but sometimes you get to help someone, you got the chance to really make a difference and those are the moments that make all the sacrifices worthy of your commitment.”

“Did you?” Kurt asked, sadness in his voice.

“Did I what?”

“Did you make a difference today? Because I’m pretty sure I didn’t. I didn’t do anything beside listening,” Kurt continued, magma rolling out of the lines on his faces and down his chin and neck.

“Why don’t you tell me what this is really about?” Burt asked, motioning to the guards to leave them before coming closer to his son. Kurt was looking down, pondering what he could and couldn’t tell his father. What was being said during audience and who said it was to be kept secret. The point remained that Kurt had heard Ignis people and they were afraid. Afraid of the Upper Earth, afraid of the Humans and of what they were capable of. It was a recurring  theme, Human fears. Ignis people had been afraid of them for as long as everyone could remember and Ignis knew better than to make themselves known by people from the Upper Earth. Elders only passed  this fear onto the younger generations, telling them stories about wars and slavery, about how human could torture them and killed them easily.  Kurt going outside, sneaking out to the upper earth was stupid and he knew it, it was dangerous and reckless. But he wanted, no, he had to know how such terrible species could live in such a magnificent place.

“Kurt?” Burt asked again, this time obviously worried about his son’s silence.

“Upper Earth.” Kurt whispered, almost hoping that his father wouldn’t hear. “We talked a lot about the Upper Earth and about Humans.”

“Okay, what was it said about it?”

“We don’t understand.” Kurt answered, not realizing what he said.

“We? Are you including yourself in it?” Kurt’s head snapped up, the flames in his head floating wildly around at the sudden movement.  Kurt didn’t see any judgement in his father‘s eyes and knew he could spoke freely not matter how scared he was.  Kurt decided that at this moment he was talking to his father, not to his King and decided to tell the truth.

“I don’t know, maybe?”

“You don’t know?” Burt asked again, his hand finding Kurt’s shoulder. Kurt looked at it and took a deep breath before answering truthfully.

“What I know, Dad, is that I love you and I respect you and your choices.  I also know that I love our people and want what is best for them. You want me to be king after you, you want me to take care of our people and to take the best decisions. I can’t be a good king if I’m not educated. I can’t be afraid of the Upper Earth without knowing what it is. I can’t be scared of the unknown anymore. I need to know what it is I’m being afraid of.

I don’t want to be like the kings that were scared, I don’t want to be the king that stayed in the unknown just because it was safer. I don’t want safety if I have to trade my knowledge for it.“

“Where is the little boy that only wanted to have rock party with me?” Burt sighed, opening his arms for kurt to rush in his embrace. There was no need for reserve, showing affection was something they had taken up, even in front of guards and their subjects, after the tragic death of Kurt’s mother. They had found out that no pride was important enough to not show affection and love for the one you cared.

“I still want to have rock parties with you, dad. I’d just appreciated if there was real gems though, and political debate during them.”

“We’ll see about that.” Burt chuckled before turning serious again. “I’ll ask for Division 5 to come with you, they are the more attune with Human culture.”

“Dad, no.” Kurt smiled faded, his heart plummeting. He didn’t want soldiers coming with him, he wanted to do this on his own, to prove he was able to set a goal for himself and reach it without any help. He also wanted for once to be completely free, no guards, no soldier or some sort of evolved baby sitter. He didn’t need for someone to follow him around he could take care of himself.

“Dad, please. No guards.”

“Kurt, you won’t go wander around, on the Upper Earth without someone to watch over you. That is not up to discuss.”

“Fine, then one person!” Kurt argued. If his father could vetoed some option then so could he.

“Division 5.”

“Dad, one person and I promise not to give them hell or try to lose them in the crowd.” Kurt could see that his father was going to be stubborn about this. They both were as a matter of fact and Kurt couldn’t help but feel like it was more of a trust issue coming from his dad than anything else.

“Three and I get to pick.” Burt was impassive and Kurt didn’t know whether he should continue to argue or not. But this was something he wanted to do alone, or as alone as he could and it felt like his father didn’t trust him to succeed.

“Dad, please. I need to do this for myself.” Kurt lowered his eyes, he didn’t know how he would ever be able to blend in with people always surrounding him.

“Urgh, fine. One person, I chose who and you make sure to always be reachable!” Burt pointed a finger at his son, and Kurt nodded eagerly, not quite believing what had made his father change his mind.

“Yes! Of course, Dad. Thank you, thank you so much!” Kurt threw himself into his father embrace, giggling against his father’s shoulder.

“Go get ready. You’re leaving tomorrow.”

Kurt disappeared as quick as he could from the room, not wanting to give his father any opportunity to change his mind.

 

* * *

Kurt fell hard on the ground, his body hitting rocks and pebbles as he rolled down the mountain. He tried to protect his head with his hands, every sharp rock hitting him or cutting him deep. His fall seemed to last a lifetime and the longer it last the awarer Kurt was of the changes in his body. He felt colder every second that passed, he could feel his body getting weaker and his hard body turning into flesh.

The ground below him felt warm before it turned hot and then literally started burning him. Kurt could see the flames on his upper arms as he continued to hurtle uncontrollably down the hill. Fire had never been a problem for him but right now it felt like a thousand of needles piercing him at the same time and tearing him apart.

He had no idea how to stop his fall, there was nothing to hold on and everything around him was overwhelming. The air was heavy with fumes and thick with ashes, turning the sky above him grey and menacing. Panic creeped into Kurt's chest as he realised that there was nothing around to help him.

He finally came to a stop, his body bruised, burnt and cut.

"Well, hello there. I'm your new best friend. Hold on tight." A woman suddenly appeared behind Kurt, startling him. He stood up however he could, the flesh on his feet heating up. He didn't took the time to think about the fact that to human species he was naked and it was supposed to be wrong, he didn't register that he now had legs and immediately put his hand in the woman's, ready to get out of here.

Kurt felt his inside twisting and disappearing before filling up his body again. His head spinned around as he lost his sight for a second, the view of lava and fire being replace with a soft light and furniture. The second he felt ground under his feet, he heaved and started to vomit into a bassinet that the woman quickly put into his hands.

"Oh, come on. It happens all the time. I'm not that bad at space jumping!" Kurt hold on to the bassinet as he let his body completely fell on the floor, the bassinet in between his legs and his arms around it.

"What was that?" Kurt finally got the strength to ask as he tried to control his shaking body.

"This  was space jumping." The woman said, sitting on a chair, a leg under her body.  She pushed her hair back and crooked a perfectly shaped eyebrow at the prince.  "What are you doing out of your kingdom?"

Kurt's mouth turned into a thin line at the question. He had no idea who she was, what she wanted and if he could trust her. Now that he had lost most of his abilities he had to be more careful on what he decided to say and do around strangers.

"You don't have to be scared or to plan my imminent death, Pyro. I'm one of your subjects." The woman stood up and dropped clothes next to Kurt before resuming her seat. "I'm here to help you with whatever you need on Upper Earth. I'll also be your translator." She looked coy and very sure of herself. It wasn't unpleasant but Kurt had never met anyone outside of the Ignis kingdom that was actually in human form.

"How come you knew where to find me and who I am?" Kurt put the bassinet far away from him, the odor making him gag. He took the clothes and put them on as he waited for an answer.

"Me being in a human form doesn't mean I'm powerless. Granted, most of my powers were resigned from me when your father decided  to exile me on Upper Earth but it was very short lived and I got them back the second I proved I was worthy of them."

"It doesn't answer my question." Kurt pushed, still not sure how to behave with the woman.

"Fine, I got a message, simple as that." The woman crossed her arms over her chest, obviously pouting.

"It was nice of you to come and save me," Kurt replied, feeling awkward. He didn't know where he was, didn't know who that woman was and even where he was supposed to start. Everything around him felt different and while the change wasn't unwelcomed  it was still proven difficult to adjust.

"It's my job. Now, my name is Santana and I'll be your baby sitter. What are you gonna do here?"

"Baby sitter? i thought you were my translator?" Kurt wondered, scratching his calves and his ribs. He was wearing clothes for the first time ever and in all honesty Kurt despised it. It was itchy and uncomfortable against his skin.

"Stop scratching, you'll get used to it. Beside it's pure cotton and angora, you can't do less scratchy."

"I could wear nothing, it would be less scratchy."

"And I see nothing wrong with that but no one wants you to become an Internet sensation on your first day here." The woman clicked her tongue and de-crossed her legs before crossing them again. "What are you doing here, little Prince? Looking for a rose?"

"I don't understand." Kurt answered, completely lost. He didn't understand half of what the woman, Santana, was talking about and he felt completely inappropriate.

"Don't worry. You'll catch up.” the woman flicked her hand in the air before pointing at Kurt. ”Now, you look like you could be around 22, 25 top. So you're either in school or already working, watcha prefer?"

"School, I guess." Kurt was tired and his body hurt. Surprisingly enough, all the cuts and the burning on his body had vanished quickly without even leaving a scar. Between his ascension up here, his rollercoaster of a fall and Santana's chatting and the constant flow of new informations, Kurt felt like he was going to pass out.

"Alright, go to sleep. I'll take care of the formalities. Just a fair warning, you're gonna end up in the dorms because I'm not keeping you here."

Kurt mumbled that he had no idea what dorms were before crawling to the couch and going to sleep the moment his head touched the pillow.

 

* * *

Kurt woke up hours later, alone in the now dark apartment. The sun had set down, leaving the place in a quiet silence. Kurt looked around without moving his head from the pillow, every sense overwhelmed with novelty. It was the smell coming from the kitchen, strong, bitter and hot. It was the feeling of a blanket against his skin, soft and smooth, and it finally was the sounds coming from outside. Kurt knew it must have been cars, as a prince he had Species Culture classesabout the Floral and Human cultures. He might know very little but he still had some knowledge. He knew a little about cars, he knew that Humans used it to travel, that it made lots of noises and could be deadly to them if they hit each other too violently. Kurt decided that it must have been peaceful if he was able to hear cars traveling outside all night, the only sound of it against the ground lulling Humans to sleep.

Kurt was slowly trying to awake his new body, carefully checking it for any damages done by his fall. He was a little bit sore, at worst. Kurt shifted on the couch to lie fully on his back so he could inspected his new form. His upper body wasn't that much different than his solid form. He had two arms, a chest, and a head with apparently two eyes, a mouth, a nose, two  ears if his inspection was right. What was new, though, was the half hole on his belly and hair. He had hair on his arms and head and apparently on his two long appendices on his lower body. Kurt looked down at what he supposed was what Humans called legs, like long and articulated arms except that it was lower. Kurt tilted his head to the side and frowned at what he was seeing. At the end of his legs were two ugly things but he had no idea what it could be.

Kurt ran a tired hand on his face before curiously running it into his hair. It felt ticklish and different. It wasn't as soft as the blanket but it was still smooth.

"This is your hair, the human representation of the flames you had on the top of your head while in your solid form," Santana explained as she walked in, her arms full of bags.

"Here, let me help y-" Kurt stood up, almost rushing to help the woman before collapsing on the floor with all his body.  Santana took her sweet time to put the bags on the counter before kneeling next to him.

"Having issue with your new legs? Very little mermaid of you." The woman said before offering her hand to help her prince stand up. She encircled his waist with her arm and hold him up however she could before putting him back on the couch.

"I don't understand," Kurt started, “how come I can't stand up. I was fine earlier."

"I think you were in shock and adrenaline was doing all the work. It's probably gonna take some practice but you'll get use to it."

"Adrenaline?"

"Yeah, human bodies are full of crap. Anyway, we have to discuss about your new affectation and also we need to experiment a little with human food. Should be fun."

"We are not gonna experiment on my new and fresh body," Kurt argued back. "I want to be able to stand up, we should focus on that." Kurt crossed his arms over his chest, his face serious.

"We will, but first we need to feed you. Food is much more important for the survival of your body than learning to keep it upright. So eat up, young padawan."

Kurt scrunched up his nose in disapproval, ready to refuse anything she would offer him to eat on principle. But when she came back from the kitchen with a bowl full of a brown liquid, Kurt's stomach grumbled and it scared him to death.

"What was that?" Kurt wondered, looking worriedly at his belly--was it trying to talk to him or something?

"Your body's way of saying it's hungry. Now drink." Kurt smelled cautiously the beverage before bringing the cup to his lips and sipping carefully at it. Again, it was different, and a bit odd but it felt nice to have something heating up his throat and filling his stomach.

Kurt tried several time during the day to stand up walk by himself, growing more and more frustrated every time he failed. He was also getting angry at himself until Santana found a tall enough stool to put in front of him and help him standing.

In between each try, they took breaks and discussed what Kurt would be doing during his stay on the Upper Earth and where he was going to stay. Santana couldn't offered him the couch for too long and instead she had arranged for him to have a room in the dorm at the university he would be studying.

She tried again to determine him what he was looking for here and what was the purpose of his visit. But Kurt stayed silent every time, not sure if he could trust her just yet.

Kurt walked into his dorm the next day, his arms full of stuff he would need according to Santana. He wasn't sure if she was supposed to be a fairy godmother (he had watched three differents Disney movies during the past night, he was up to these things) or if she was just really weird in what could be seen as a nice way. She was Ignis but she acted and thought Human. She used her abilities but hid them. She was a mystery to Kurt and he still didn't know if he could trust her or not, no matter what his father thought.

"... And here's your royal suite, my l--" Santana stopped, Kurt bumping into her as he walked behind. He tried to look past her body to see what had put her to stop. "What are you doing here?" The woman asked to someone.

Kurt tried to shuffle past her and to poke his head around all the stuff he was holding to see what was happening.

"Huh, well hello. I'm Blaine Anderson? Senior in this school, majoring in teaching and minoring in music and this is my dorm. What are you doing here?"

Kurt finally pushed the woman aside and made a beeline to the empty bed on the right. He was still getting used to legs but he could almost run without fumbling. Kurt turned to glare at Santana before turning to the stranger in the room.

"I'm sorry for my... I don't really know her," Kurt said as he looked between Santana and this Blaine Anderson individual. Kurt stood there remembering too late for it to be natural that Humans had to shake hands when meeting. "I’m Kurt, and apparently I'm your new roommate."

Kurt saw the man looking curiously between the woman and him before nodding.

"Well, I couldn't keep this room to myself forever. Is this side of the room fine for you?” Blaine  asked, standing up and putting his computer aside.

"Of course. Don't worry," Kurt answered, looking straight into Blaine's eyes without adding anything else. They stared at each other a few seconds, neither of them looking away.

"Well, as fun as it is, I have stuff to do. Blaine, do not touch," Santana pointed to the shorter man before turning to the Ignis. "Kurt, don't burn anything."

She then spinned  on her heels and disappeared in the hallway, leaving Kurt alone with his newfound roommate.

"Don't burn anything?" Blaine repeated, turning his face back to Kurt after watching Santana leave.

"Ah yes, I can create flames." Kurt answered truthfully.

Blaine took a double take at the answer, not reacting at first before bursting out of laughing.

"I almost believed it. Don’t say thing like this, people might believe you,” Blaine said, laughing it off. “If you need anything just ask, okay? I can be your tour guide if you need me to."

Kurt didn't understand why Blaine laughed at his answer and shrugged it off  before turning to his stuff. He took the time to make his bed just like Santana had taught him to and put his clothes away in the closet. He didn't have many things and soon enough Kurt had nothing left to do.

He lied down on his back and looked up at the ceiling. He could hear Blaine tapping on his computer in his bed. This was another thing that was new, computer and people in his room.

 

Kurt closed his eyes and just listened to Blaine for an hour, trying to get accustomed to his new surroundings. The room smelled differents than Santana's flat, there was no car noises here but instead there was a muffled but constant chatter of people even with closed door.

Kurt opened his eyes and turned to his side to watch Blaine. Kurt knew very little about Human fashion and about clothes, he guessed they used it the same way he used lines of magma, to make a statement. Blaine looked very nice for a human. He looked tiny in comparison of others but his arms looked strong and he had nice feet.

Feet were still something weird for him.

"Hum, yes? Do you want something?" Blaine asked after a few minutes.

"No, I'm just looking at you, Blaine Anderson." Kurt answered. "I’m trying to decide whether you’re a threat or not.”

Blaine chuckled at that before seeing that Kurt was being serious. The man closed his laptop and turned to face Kurt, sitting leg crossed.

“I’m not going to do anything to harm you.” Blaine promised.  Kurt eyed him a few more seconds as the man started nibbling at his bottom lip.

“I trust you for now. Tell me, what are you doing here?” Kurt asked, wanting to shift the spotlight from him to Blaine, genuinely interested.

“Hum, well, I’m basically learning how to become a teacher but what I’d really want would be to teach music to the kids. When they are still fairly young and would listen to anything. I have this amazing book somewhere,” Blaine said as he started rummaging around, probably to find said book. “You see, they use some classical music as background music during the whole time and then you get used to it and it’s such an amazing way to get children to listen to classical music. Ah, here it is!” Blaine exclaimed as he brandished the book.

Kurt smiled fondly at him, listening to his roommate talk about his passion for music. Kurt didn’t know much about music: Ignis people loved music and loved to sing, sure, but Kurt knew that Human instruments differed from theirs and he was curious to see how.

They talked for hours--actually Blaine talked and Kurt listened, he let himself being taught about school and classes, about classical music and something called pop music. Kurt had never felt more alive than in this moment. Everything was new and exciting; every new source of information was making him fall deeper and deeper for this species. He knew that for Ignis to be afraid of them they must have done something terrible in the past and that he should be careful. Kurt still had in his mind what he was here for, collecting information about Humans so that if one day they should be at war he would know what their weaknesses were.

But Kurt could see that Blaine was not the one he should be afraid of. Blaine was like the sky, mysterious and beautiful, simultaneously full of questions and answers and Kurt wanted to look at him forever.

“Anyway I shouldn’t bother you with all this. I’m sure you have better things to do,” Blaine finished. Kurt blinked at him before nodding, not sure of what he’d miss.  “I’m going to take a shower. Do you want me to show you where the bathrooms are?” Blaine offered and Kurt started to panic. What about water? He was still Ignis but he had a Human body with Humans needs, could he stepped under water?

Kurt opened his mouth to say something before shutting it and deciding against following Blaine.

“No, thanks. I’ll go later.” Blaine smiled one more time at him before disappearing. Kurt threw himself at his nightstand, grabbing the cheap phone Santana had gave him in case he needed anything.

He had no idea how to use it and only knew that he had to push two buttons before being able to talk to his so-called baby sitter.

“What?” Santana asked when she answered.

“Can I use a shower?” Kurt whispered, irrationally afraid that someone might overheard him.

“Yes, Kurt. You can take a shower and you should. You’re in a human form for as long as you’re here and you don’t want to smell like a donkey. Go take a shower!”

And with that the woman hanged off without even enquiring about how it was going with his new roommate.

“This woman is very rude,” Kurt mumbled to himself before stepping outside of the dorm and start searching for the bathroom.

Kurt spotted a half naked man walking around with a towel on his shoulder and his hands full of bottles. Kurt remembered something about his body and something something about his hair and decided to follow the man. He wandered around, always keeping a  safe distance with the man he was following until he pushed a door with a little icon on it. Kurt followed suit, hoping he wasn’t entering a bedroom or anything else just as embarrassing. As it turned out Kurt had found the bathroom and was now facing a whole new brand of problem such as the use of a shower.  He could hear the water hitting the ground and the sound of men cleaning themselves and moving around. Kurt searched around any clue of what to do, biting his bottom lip in worry.

He felt stupid standing there and not knowing what to do, he felt inadequate and like an idiot for not asking Santana how to take a shower.  He started twitching his hands in fear, frowning at the whole situation.  After a few seconds of panic Kurt decided to just walk in a stall and go with it. The man closed the curtain behind him and turned around to face the wall and with it the mechanism supposed to provide water for the shower.  Kurt looked at the handles and the thing above him with concern before turning one of the handle slowly.

“Kurt?” Blaine asked from outside, startling Kurt who jumped at the sound of the other man’s voice.

“I’m trying to take a shower in there.” Kurt answered, crossing his arms above his shirt, rolling his eyes at himself for being in such position.

“I know, I just wanted to give you some products because  I didn’t see you unpack any and I supposed that… well that you just didn’t have any.” Kurt looked at the curtain, scrunching up his nose and tilting his head to the side.  He opened the curtain quickly, revealing a half naked Blaine with drops of water rolling down his hair and onto his torso. Kurt’s eyes followed a droplet until it finished its run on one of Blaine’s hipbone and Kurt’s cheeks heat up as he looked back into the  man’s eyes, scratching his neck.

“You said products?”

“Huh, well yes. “ Blaine answered, looking curiously at Kurt. “I mean shampoo for your hair and soap for your body. It’s mine so I hope you won’t mind if it smell like me.”

“You smell fine.” Kurt opened his hands, ready to receive the products Blaine talked about. He handed them to Kurt but didn’t leave right away, moving from one feet to another.

“Kurt?” Blaine whispered, coming closer to the Ignis. “You know you can take off your clothes and put them in a locker, right? No one is going steal them from you, I promise.”

Kurt looked between Blaine’s body and his. Blaine was naked and he, well he was still wearing his clothes while being in the shower.  Kurt was starting to get really tired with his own uneducation about all of this new environment and only smiled to answer Blaine which seemed to do the trick.

“I have to get naked, of course.” Kurt mumbled to himself as he stripped quickly before showing everything into a locker and walking back into the stall where he had put Blaine’s products.

Kurt once again closed the curtain behind him and put his right hand on the handle, not knowing what to expect. He knew about water, knew about rain but he had never experienced it. Kurt slowly turn the handle, looking above to see what would happen. When few drops fell off, Kurt stepped aside quickly.

He wasn’t exactly afraid, just anxious of what would happen once he let water on his body. He was a fire people, his body was made of fire and magma most of the time, how would he react to an element that was supposed to be his exact opposite?

Kurt was mesmerized by the water running and disappearing into some hole on the ground, he just didn’t understand how something so devastating for his people could look so defenseless here. It didn’t have any color, any odor and yet it was so powerful it could kill.  Kurt put one of his hand up and warily tried to put it under the water, breaking a few time and taking a step back before trying again.  The moment the first drops hit his palm, Kurt gasped and hold his breath, scared it would ironically burn him. Except that nothing happened, nothing but the sensation of being wet and fresh and pure. Kurt admired the little pool forming into his hand and the water flowing out and into the tiles on the ground. Kurt turned his palm to the ground, letting the back of his hand being washed by the water, drops falling one after the other on his skin and massaging it.

It was nothing he had ever experienced before, in their volcano you were always surrounded by overwhelming sounds and smells, there was always bubbling and burning lava that splashed on you. But in here, it was nothing like. Kurt closed his eyes and just felt, water against his skin, under his feet, the empowering feeling of cleaning himself from any residue of panic. Water had this power on him, it calmed and soothed him, lulled him into a peacefulness he didn’t know existed.  Kurt re-opened his eyes and stepped fully under the water, letting it take away the rest of his doubt and fear. He wasn’t afraid that water might do him any wrong, water was purifying and liberating so he let it washed away everything it might want to take, standing at its mercy.

It was only when  the sound of a door closing came to his hears that Kurt was brought back to reality and remembered his was supposed to wash . He looked at the products and read the etiquette before remembering that Blaine said that shampoo was for the hair. He quickly washed his whole body, getting foam into his eyes and yelping at unpleasant sensation.

He made a quick work of walking back to the room he shared with Blaine with his clothes under his arm and a towel secured around his waist, towel he totally steal from some other person in the shower.  

Kurt closed the door behind him and took a deep breath.

“I did it.” The man whispered to himself, leaning his forehead against the door as he felt like he was finally safe, away from any prying eyes.

“How was the shower?” Blaine asked from behind him and once again Kurt jumped in the air, clutching his clothes against his chest in fear.

“You scared me!” Kurt answered, feeling his heart beating wildly in his ribcage. “You’re always around and you’re always scaring me. Stop.”

“I’m sorry, I thought you saw me. Sorry.” Blaine said, shrinking on himself. Kurt felt guilty for making the man feel bad. It was not his fault he was completely useless in the human world and didn’t pay attention to any of his surroundings.

“No, it’s me. I’m sorry. I’m just … you really scared me, twice.” Blaine winced at that and Kurt offered a smile he hoped came out as sympathetic. He put all his clothes on a chair and searched for something appropriate to wear and go to bed. He was tired, scared of almost every new situation and was sure the person he stole the towel from would come and haunt him. Beside he really didn’t want to get hitchy clothes on his back to sleep, he just wanted to be comfortable.

Kurt turned back to his bed and dropped the towel on the ground.

“Oh my god, what are you doing?” Blaine shrieked covering his eyes with his hands and bringing his crossed legs against his chest to protect himself.

“I’m going to sleep.” Kurt answered, his finger pointing toward his bed while his other hand hold the blanket. “Why, is there anything wrong?”

“Just, just get in your bed and please warn me next time you get naked in the middle of our room.” Blaine answered, his voice shivering a little as he picked and get an eyeful of Kurt’s penis.

“I just don’t get it.” Kurt groaned as he got to bed, bringing the blanket under his armpits.

“I don’t mind you sleeping naked, I mean I get it. I just… I’m not …” Blaine stuttered, turning red. “I’m just not used to people being as comfortable around me as you are.” Blaine finished, his head bowed down.

“You’ve been anything but nice to me, you lent me stuffs. Is there any reason I shouldn’t be comfortable around you, Blaine?” Kurt asked, his grip tighter around the blanket, ready to react if anything went wrong.

“I’m gay, Kurt.”  Kurt closed his eyes tiredly, once again he had no idea what the human was saying to him and it was starting to really get to him.

“Good for you.” Kurt tried, fooling absolutely no one about him not knowing what Blaine was saying.

“I like boys and I want to be in relationship with boys.” Blaine explained, frowning a little. Kurt’s mouth fell open in a perfect ‘o’ shape as he finally understood.

“Oh, okay. I’m  just…. From a community where we don’t put word on sexuality. We just like the people we like.” Kurt tried to explain, hoping Blaine wouldn’t grow too curious of his unknowledge on so many things.

“Must be nice.” Blaine turned back on his bed his face closing off rapidly and Kurt wondered if he had said anything to upset him. “Good night, Kurt.”

Kurt got the message and decided not to bother the man again, turning under his blanket to face the wall and to give the other man some space.  He was so tired and it was only his first hours on the Upper Earth but it already felt like climbing a mountain with broken legs. He needed help, no matter how willing he was, he needed Santana to guide him or he was going to crash and burn fast. Kurt made a mental note to go and see the woman the day after, falling asleep as soon as he closed his eyes.

That night Kurt dreamt of volcano and magma, he dreamt about a climbing and the need to get somewhere. He could feel the presence of someone or something and knew he was talking to them but he didn’t see any faces or shapes, he just knew it was here. Kurt felt like he could smell the scent of magma and angry volcano and it made him miss home and his father.  When Kurt woke up in the morning Blaine was already gone and Kurt had no idea if he was happy he had the room for himself or sad that he had no one to talk to in the morning. He wasn’t ready to get up and face people, he had no idea how to get around and find Santana’s place, he didn’t want to have to interact with humans. He knew must be hungry because his stomach felt like a empty space in the middle of his body but he didn’t want to taste human food.

Tears started to swell up on the corner of his eyes. It was too much, it was so much more than he had anticipated and maybe after all he wasn’t ready to face it all on his own.

 

* * *

In the end Santana drove all the way to his dorm room and back to her place,  gently rubbing circles on Kurt’s back.  She stayed silent the whole time but Kurt could see that she was worried in the way she kept glancing at him when she thought he wasn’t looking.

She let him in and Kurt made a beeline to the couch, where he plopped down and took the cushion next to him to hug it tightly against his chest.  Soon the woman was making her way back into the living room with two mugs in hands. She handed one to Kurt and sat beside him, one of her leg put under her.

“Wanna tell me what’s wrong, Lucifer?”

“Everything is wrong, Tana.” Kurt said, looking down at his mug filled with some brown liquid.

“Drink up, it’s cocoa. It’s supposed to make you feel better.” The woman pushed Kurt’s mug closer to him to encourage him. “And be more specific, what’s wrong?”

“I have  no clue how to live here. I don’t know I’m supposed to take a shower naked, or what I can or can’t eat. I don’t know what the rules are, I never learnt about it. We are supposed to get classes about the human’s world and their culture but what I learnt is never going to help me here.”

Kurt answered his breathing turning erratic as he tried to explain himself.  He only realized that his whole body was shaking when Santana put her hand above his to calm him down.

“Alright, here’s the thing, humans are just as clueless as you are. They have a whole sets of rules but they don’t even know what they are. They spend their whole life trying to understand what the rules are so they could blend in. They set up unrealistic goals and they just watch each other crash and burn trying to do everything they can to achieve those goals. “ Santana explained, coming closer to the man. She took his mug out of his hands and put it down on the table before opening her arms for Kurt to hug her.

“Granted, there are rules easier to understand than other, like showering naked but not going out fully naked, you’ll learn them quickly.”

“What if I don’t and I mess up, big time?” Kurt asked, his nose buried in her hair.

“Well then, you mess up, you try to understand why you messed up and you go on.” Kurt pushed himself away from the woman, crooking an eyebrow at her.

“It’s not that easy.”

“It’s not but you get my point. Now drink.” Santana put the mug back into Kurt’s hand, taking hers at the same time. They sipped in a companionship silence at their drinks, giving Kurt time to think about what Santana had just told him. She must have had a hard time learning all about how to live on the Upper Earth, and yet she seemed so well adjusted now.

“Why aren’t you coming back to Incendium? It must be hard for you too to be in a world that isn’t yours.” Kurt wondered aloud.

“I’m good here. Humans aren’t all that bad and well, once you learn how to behave around them it’s a nice place to be.”

“How long is it gonna take for me to learn the basics of how to act human?” Kurt asked again after a few minutes of silence.

“You already know that you can’t kill them, scared them, burn them and that you must take a shower naked. You’re almost all set.” Santana joked, finally earning a smile from Kurt.

“I’m serious.”

“Me too. But, hum I guess here are others: don’t talk about Incendium or any other kingdom, don’t show your power, eat after you woke up, in the middle of the day and during the evening, flush after you go to the bathroom, brush your teeth in the morning and don’t jerk off when your roommate is in the room. That’s just rude.”

Kurt eyed the woman, trying to understand if she was still joking or not.

“Ignis do have a sense of decency, you know. I wouldn’t jerk off with anyone in the room.” Kurt offered his best bitch face only to be answered with a fierce smirk.

“That’s just sad.  You could at least share such an amazing body with someone.”

“I’m not here to have sex marathon with a human, you know.” Kurt slapped Santana arm who started to giggle and hide behind a cushion.

“You should, they are pretty good as a matter of fact.”

“Oh, you would know.” Kurt laughed at that and kicked her with his own cushion, entering a pillow fight that left them both panting and giggling.

“Okay, young padawan.  Time for you to go and learn, human style.” Santana stood up, offering her hand for Kurt to take and stand as well.

“I’m gonna get lost.” Kurt mumbled.

“Maybe, that’s part of the foreign exchange student experience. You’re from Hawaii, by the way.”

Kurt stood there, a little confused at what the woman had just told him.

“Hawaii?”

“Deal with it. I’m driving and then you’re on your own.”

Kurt climbed back into her car, letting himself being drive around town.  Santana gave him the map of the university and his whole schedule with. He also had a whole file with how to go from one class to the other, how to go back to his dorm and where the cafeteria was. There was also a little sticker with her address on. Kurt looked through the file and beamed at the woman.

“You’re nice!” Kurt stated, himself shocked at the piece of information. “You are actually a nice person. You just don’t want people to know.”

“Shut up or I’ll push you out of the car while I’m driving.” Was Santana only answer on the subject.

Once Kurt was finally on campus and had waved Santana goodbye he walked to the indicated building and into his classroom.  He looked around, not that he was searching for someone he knew, everyone here was a stranger but he wanted to find a spot where he could analyzed people in the room while not disturbing the class.

Kurt sat in a corner at the back of the class and waited for the teacher to come in. Without noticing Kurt started picking at his bag while the students filled the room until the only empty seat was the one next to him.  Kurt looked around the room, hoping to find warm eyes or a shy smile toward him, except that he found nothing and instead people kept on going with their conversation.

Kurt turned back to his bag, sinking further into his seat.

“Excuse me, is this seat taken?” Blaine asked, a big smile on his face. Kurt sat straight and returned the smile, pulling the chair out.

“Yes, of course.” Kurt watched Blaine settled, taking his computer out of his bag and putting his glasses on.

“I’m really glad you’re in my class.” Kurt blurted, turning pink instantly.

“I’m glad I’m in your class as well.”

When the lesson finally began Blaine started to type on his computer while Kurt was left listening to either the teacher or the click of Blaine typing down his notes. Kurt hadn’t bring anything to write down and even if he had he wouldn’t have been able to. He knew how to speak human, how to read but he couldn’t write it to save his life.

He listened carefully to everything the teacher said, to every little explanation he gave of everything, trying to soak up as much as he could.  It wasn’t anything like the classes he had back in Incendium but still, it was interesting.

 

* * *

At the end of the class, Blaine put his hand on the small of Kurt’s back and lead them out of the room.

“What do you have next?”

“I’m not sure,” Kurt answered, fishing into his bag to find his schedule.  He opened it and shift a little to allow Blaine to look with him.

“Nice, you have psychology, me too. Come on.” Kurt followed Blaine around the campus, sitting next to him again during their second class.

Just like the first one Kurt didn’t take any notes and instead listened carefully to everything that the teacher had to say while Blaine besides him took notes on his computer. Kurt sometimes looked over at Blaine during the class, the man was very serious and he was so deep in concentration that he even had a frown on his face. Kurt smiled at that before turning his attention back to the teacher.

At the end of the class, the two men walk  back to their room but not before stopping on their way to buy Chinese take out. They sat on the floor, bottles of water next to them, and lay around all the boxes of food so they could pick what they wanted to eat right out of it.

“So, what did you think of your first day?”

“Emotionally draining, interesting and confusing. Mostly.” Kurt shrugged snatching some food from the box right in front of Blaine. “ I want to go out tonight, though.”

“You want to go out?”

“Well, yes. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do?” Kurt wondered, his head tilted to the side.

“Don’t you want to lie down and rest just for tonight? You just said it had been an emotionally draining day.”

“Yes, emotionally. Physically I’m fine.”

“Okay we’ll go out. What do you want to do?” Blaine playfully shove away Kurt’s chopstick to get some of the caramel pork.  Kurt thought about what he wanted to do. He didn’t know a lot about what students were supposed to do and Santana hadn’t give him that many details about it. Once again, Kurt shrugged and wiggled his nose.

“What do you do when you go out?”

“I don’t go out a lot, I prefer reading and watching movie to be honest.”

“Oh come on Blaine Anderson. There must be something.”

“We could go to a bar, I guess.” And that picked Kurt’s interest.

“A bar? You go there to drink, right?”

“Right. But you don’t have to get any alcoholic drink. We can just get soda to start with.” Kurt beamed at that and stood up quickly. He was here to learn more about humans, to understand how they functioned: living among them and experiencing their everyday life was the most efficient way to do it. Bar it was then.

“Alright, Blaine Anderson, let’s go.”

Kurt walked ahead the whole time, strutting a little as he was about to experience going to a bar for the first time. Blaine was only a step behind him, smiling gently every time  Kurt turned around to make sure he was still following. They made it to the nearest bar using Blaine’s phone.

Kurt sat in a booth, looking to see what the other people were doing. There was a group of friends drinking an amber liquid while playing pool, a group of three people sitting together and a couple drinking together.

“Alright, I want what they have!” Kurt said as he pointed toward the group of friends.

“Beer?” Blaine asked while turning around to follow Kurt’s finger.

“Yup.” Blaine nodded and got the bar, ordering for them both. He came back with the drinks in his hands and pushed the beer toward kurt.

“Careful with alcohol. You had it before, right? “ For the day and a half that they had known each other Blaine didn’t have questioned Kurt weird behavior or his knowledge about human’s life. Kurt thought that maybe the man was just trying to accept him or that maybe Kurt was just doing really great at hiding that he knew next to nothing. Obviously it had been the former and Blaine had just been nice. Kurt frowned and put the glass closer to him.

“Yes, Blaine Anderson. I had alcohol before. I’m not stupid.” Kurt brought the glass to his mouth and took a big gulp of his drink. He winced at  the burn in his throat and the bitter taste. It wasn’t the most delicious beverage he ever had and it made him feel funny inside. Kurt tried to hide his disgust however he could and looked fiercely at Blaine.

“I never said you were stupid.”

Blaine took a sip of his own drink, looking down. They drank in a relative silence, Kurt finishing his drink in no time, even if he didn’t like the taste; at least it gave him something to do to fill this silence. Blaine didn’t seem phased by it and it made Kurt even more nervous.

“Do you want something else to drink? I finished mine.” Kurt offered, sliding off the booth. Blaine looked at him and then back to his drink.

“I’m good, thanks.” Kurt made his way to the bartender, biting nervously his lip. He could do this, he could act human and do what human did without looking utterly stupid, he could pass for human. He needed to.

“Hum, hi excuse me… can I have alcohol please?” Kurt half stuttered to a bartender that barely listened to him.

“What kind of alcohol?”

“Huh, something that taste good?” Kurt didn’t know there was different type of alcohol, why did no one tell him those things.

“Of course.” The bartender said before turning and grabbing a bottle. Kurt looked over his shoulder to look at Blaine, still sitting on the booth. He was typing on his phone and pocketed it quickly, looking back at Kurt and waving at him. Kurt waved back and turned to the bartender that had just placed a drink in front of him. Kurt paid and went back to the booth with a colorful drink.

“What did you order?” Blaine wondered, smiling at the funny looking beverage.

“No idea. I trust the man behind the counter.” Kurt took a sip of his drink and this time it tasted much better. It wasn’t bitter like before but much sweeter and Kurt started sipping at it.

“This is really good. You should try it, Blaine Anderson.” Kurt said once his drink was almost halfway down.

“I’m good, thank.” Blaine smiled and drummed his fingers on the table before placing his hands back on his lap. “Why do you keep calling me by my full name?”

“What?”

“You can call me just Blaine, you know.” Kurt hiccupped and smiled happily at Blaine before taking another sip of his drink.

“Okay, I’ll call you just Blaine now. But it’s you who introduced yourself like that the first time. It’s confusing,” Kurt said frowning a little. He could feel his head becoming fuzzy and his surrounding blurring a little. Kurt finished his drink and looked sadly at the bottom of the glass.

“I should get another one,” Kurt announced seriously.

“Or maybe we could just call it a night. It’s starting to get crowded and hot in there.” Blaine answered earning some serious puppy eyes from kurt. Kurt pouted some more, crossing his arms over his chest and slouching down on his seat. Eventually Blaine gave in and Kurt ordered another drink, and then another one and then he stopped counting.

“You know, you are just really really nice, just Blaine.” Kurt slurred, while using Blaine as a clutches. “really really nice.”

“Come on, Kurt. We’re almost there,” Blaine was holding him however he could while making sure that Kurt was still putting a feet in front of the other to get to their room.

“And you smell really nice too, just Blaine.” Blaine looked at the man who smiled droopily at him before stumbling on his own feet and almost falling on his ass, dragging Blaine with him. Kurt giggled at that and hold on Blaine’s arm to catch himself. “Oops.”

“Yeah, oops.”  Blaine repeated, mouthing a ‘sorry’  to anyone that crossed their path.

“You don’t think I’m weird and you get me drinks and you’re nice. I think I like you, just Blaine.”

“Oh god.” Blaine groaned as he finally entered their building. “Kurt, please from now on until we’re in our room, please just whisper.”

“Okay!” Kurt almost yelled, throwing his hand in the air and missing a step. Blaine caught him up at the last moment, earning giggles from Kurt. Blaine opened the door with difficulties and they stumbled into the room, Kurt falling on the floor in the dark.

“I fell,” Kurt giggled some more as he started to undress. “Getting naked!” Kurt warned this time as he got rid of his shirt and proceeded to unbutton his pants.

“Hum, well okay. Just tell me when under your blanket,” Blaine said, making his way to his own bed and sat on it, facing the wall to give Kurt some privacy. Blaine heard some shuffling and after a moment he heard Kurt soft voice.

“I’m in my bed, Blaine.” Blaine turned around to witness an half asleep Kurt cuddling under his blanket, his arms and chest bare.

“Alright, I’ll just put this bassinet next to your bed so if you feel sick you use it.” Blaine made his way around the room, putting the bassinet down and before kneeling next to the bed. “You okay?”

“M’good. Thank you for tonight. It was fun! I never have fun.” Kurt mumbled, smiling sleepily at Blaine. Blaine smiled back as he tried to make out what Kurt was saying. “You’re nice to me, thank you.”

And with that Kurt fell asleep. Blaine stood up, put an Advil and a bottle of water on his nightstand and walked back to his bed.  

 

* * *

When Kurt woke up in the morning his head felt like it was weighing a ton of brick and he could feel his insides twisting in pain. Kurt groaned loudly, hiding his face from the light. The movement only made his everything hurt some more and Kurt decided  not to move for a while. Except that he heard Blaine walking around the room and Kurt smiled a little knowing that the man was here.

“Kurt? You’re awake?” Blaine’s voice barely above a whisper.

“Yeah,” Kurt groaned however he could, making Blaine chuckled at that.

“Here’s take this and drink some water.” Blaine tried to push the cover away from Kurt’s head but not without resistance from the Ignis.

“No,” Kurt pleaded but his condition made him weaker than Blaine and soon enough he had two pills shoved into his hand and a bottle of water.

“Is this poisonous?”

“No worse than what you had last night.” Kurt sniffed the pills before throwing them inside of his mouth and washing it with water. “Keep the bottle near you and keep drinking it.” Blaine ordered, lingering close to Kurt before sitting on a chair.

“How do you feel this morning?”

“Terrible,” Kurt answered truthfully. “And I feel really gross.”

“I think you need a shower.” Kurt nodded at that and winced at the mere thought of moving.

“I think too, can I borrow your stuff once again? I’m sorry, I’ll go buy some soon.”

“It’s fine, take mine and go.” Kurt thanked Blaine and took the bottles and a towel and then made his way to the showers on wobbly legs.Kurt stepped in the shower naked and let the water fall over his body, massaging every knot his body might have developped. He stayed under the jet for a solid five minutes before washing himself and turning to face the water. He let it ran on his cheeks and neck, almost ridding him of his headache. Kurt made a quick work of drying himself and walked back to his room.

“You got him drunk? Are you out of your damn mind Anderson?” Kurt pushed the door to reveal Santana and Blaine obviously fighting over their night out.

“San?”

“Well well well. Kurtsie,” The woman crooked an eyebrow at him and eyed Blaine one more time before making her way to the Ignis. “We got some catching up to do, come over to my place.”

“Is this an offer or an order?” Kurt wondered as he gave back the bottles of shampoo to Blaine.

“Whatever you want it to be,” the woman said, pointing her manicured finger at Blaine. “I’m watching you Anderson, you have no idea how much I’m watching you.” Blaine didn’t look away, not even acknowledging the pointing finger. He stood straight, a determined look on his face. Kurt looked awkwardly between the two, before pushing the woman toward the door.

“Santana, stop scaring my friend. Let’s go, I’m coming over.” Kurt smiled apologetically to Blaine before pushing Santana fully out of the room and then out of the building.

“What do you think you’re doing? I’m not some damsel in distress!” Kurt hissed once they were in her car. “I can make my own decision whether you like them or not.”

“It was your idea?” The woman asked, her hands gripping the wheel tighter.

“Yes. I wanted to get out, I wanted the drinks and I just didn’t want to be sick but once again, no one ever told me that you could get sick if you drank too much.”

“You okay, though?” Santana shifted her attention to Kurt for a second before turning back to the road.

“I’ll be fine. Blaine said I needed to keep drinking water.”

“If Blaine said so.”

“Are you mocking me?” Kurt laughed, before wincing when a flash of pain shot through his head. He would never ever drink again. They soon arrived at Santana’s place and Kurt made his way to the couch, where he snuggled one of the cushions, waiting for the woman to come and sit with him.

It took her a little while but when she reappeared, she was holding two mugs with steam coming out of them.

“Here.” Santana handed Kurt a mug and folded a leg underneath her as she sat. “It’s tea, mostly water. You’ll like it.”

Kurt eyed the brown liquid suspiciously. The last new drink he had was the very reason why he was in this state. But Santana seemed fine drinking it and Kurt took a careful sip, almost burning his tongue in the process.

“So, you and Anderson,” Santana started with a smirk.

“What with me and Blaine?”

“You like him.” Kurt shrugged and this time took a real sip of his drink.

“He is a decent human and I’m living with him. It’s difficult not to try and make friend with him.”

“But you like him.” Santana pressed.

“I guess you could say that.”

“Are you going to date him?” Santana scooted closer, her smile growing wider.

“Most certainly not. This is not why I’m here and beside my father will choose who I marry so I’m not even thinking about it.” Santana stopped for a second to look at Kurt, really look at him and Kurt defiantly hold her gaze. “What?”

“Are you telling me that you don’t allow yourself to get crushes or to like people because you don’t have a say in whom you’ll marry?” The woman asked gently, almost too nicely for her.

“Yes, it would just be a waste of time anyway.” Kurt didn’t see the point of it anyway, if he fell for someone that wasn’t suitable to sit beside him on the throne he would just end up with a broken heart and would probably enter in a fight with his father. It’s not like it was difficult actually: most of the time Kurt was alone in the castle, or surrounded by people that were just making sure he was safe.

“Okay, but you can’t deny that he is hot.” Santana wiggled her eyebrow and Kurt rolled his eyes at her, faking annoyance.

“He is fine.”

“He is hot, ten out of ten, would totally bang.”

“Who would you bang?” Someone said from the front door. Kurt’s head snapped up to the door as Santana bolted out of the couch. Kurt heard Santana whispering to a woman, he couldn’t see anything from the couch nor hear properly what was being said. He didn’t want to interrupt but curiosity got the best of him and he settled his mug on the coffee table and walked closer to the two women.

“Santana, who’s this?” Kurt asked. Santana spinned on her heels and murderously glance at Kurt, squinting her eyes at him.

“Kurt,” The woman then said threateningly but Kurt only stood straighter and taller, his eyes never leaving the woman.

“Santana, I’ll just go.” The woman behind her said, her voice soft and small. Kurt felt bad for her and reached out to see her and talk to her, pushing Santana in the process from his way. The second Kurt got a glimpse of the woman behind Santana he felt his arm being twisted and his whole body seize, slunching on the floor as Santana kept putting pressure on it.

“Santana, what the hell?” Kurt yelled in pain. He could tell it was only mechanical and a form of protection but Kurt didn’t understand why she needed protection against him. “Santana!”

This seemed to get her out of the trance she had been on for a second and she let go of his arm enough for it not to hurt anymore but still had a firm grip on it if needed.

“You can’t tell anything, Kurt.”

“Tell what? What even is happening?”

“Santana, let him go. Think about what you are doing!” The other woman tried to reason her, earning Santana’s attention. “Please let him go. We need to explain to him.”

“Yeah, let me go!” Kurt weakly said.  He adverted his eyes between the two women, taking in how they look at each other and how Santana looked protective over the other woman. “Santana?” Kurt pleaded again.

The woman let go of him, helping him standing up. The other woman, pushed to door close and they all made their way to the couch. Santana purposely stayed in between the two, as she was using her body to shield the stranger.

Kurt sat on the a chair when the two women chose the couch. They sat side by side, close enough to touch but never doing it. They didn’t look at Kurt for a while, shyly glancing at each other. After a moment Santana sat straighter and hold Kurt’s gaze as to give herself courage.

“Kurt, this is Dani.” The woman, Dani, smiled genuinely at Kurt.

“Hi.” Dani waved happily at him and Kurt couldn’t help but do the same, influenced by her enthusiasm.

“Hello back.” Kurt greeted. “So, what was that about?”

“You can’t tell anyone, Kurt. Not your father, not your friend, not  Blaine. No one can know.” Santana said seriously, her hand finding Dani’s.

“Why is that.”

“I… Dani is…”

“I’m her girlfriend,” Dani answered, her attention shifting from Santana to Kurt.  Kurt looked between the two women, assessing how exactly this could be a major problem.

“Alright.”

“Kurt, basically I’m an agent for your father. I don’t get to have a private life because my purpose  is to protect and serve. If anyone knew, I could be in danger but most importantly Dani could be in danger.” Santana explained, her grip tightening around Dani’s fingers.

“ So you’ve been seeing her behind my father and his guards’ back? That would be kind of badass if it didn’t hurt that much,”  Kurt replied, massaging his poor arm. Santana seemed like a good person; actually Kurt knew he could trust her, and he didn’t exactly get why they had to be that secretive about it, but he didn’t want to be the reason why the two women couldn’t be together.

“Are you sure you’re okay with lying to your father?” Santana asked nervously.

“It’s not like I can talk to him right now, so for the time being it will be fine. And when I’ll go back.. well let’s say that it won’t be the first time I leave out some details”.

“What about Blaine?” Santana asked, Dani sneakily scouting closer to her.  

“What about him?”

“Do you think you’ll be able to lie to him?” Kurt knew he’d lie to Blaine to keep Santana safe but for some reason it didn’t feel as easy as he thought it would.

“You don’t have to worry. Your secret is safe with me,” Kurt answered, nodding.

“I like you, Kurt, “ Dani smiled shyly from behind her blonde and purple hair.

“I like your style,” Kurt answered her, finally easing the tension of their shoulders.

“So back to Anderson,” Santana said, returning to her true confident and annoying self. Kurt held his hands in the air in surrender and stood up, walking to the bathroom.

“I’m not having this discussion again!”

“You shouldn’t go out with him anyway!” Santana shouted from the couch her voice covered by the sound of Kurt shutting the door closed.

He sat on the floor, taking a deep breath to calm himself. He took his time to even his breath and sorted his thoughts. Everything here moved faster than it did back to the castle. Maybe it was because here he had friends and people to talk to on daily basis, people that weren’t guards or his father. Maybe this was what it was to be free and a normal person- a human. Kurt relaxed on the floor and crossed his legs. Santana was his friend, Dani could be his friend. And Blaine, Blaine was his roommate but the title didn’t fit him. Kurt knew he had Blaine too in some capacity and it was good enough for him.

He looked at his hands, clasped in his lap and Kurt turned his palms to himself. He didn’t know if it was because he sat for too long in the same position or not but he started to feel his fingers going a little numb and  tickling. Kurt clenched and unclenched his fists, trying to get rid of the sensation. Instead he felt the tip of his fingers growing warmer and Kurt stared at them worriedly. He held his palms higher, to get a good look at it and the second he brought them together a flame burst out of his skin.

Kurt stared at it before clasping his hands together to get rid of it, afraid of being burn. The flame disappeared instantly and Kurt re opened his hand to see if it had done any damage. Truth was, he wasn’t feeling the burn, didn’t smell anything like burnt skin and when Kurt peaked at his skin it was spotless. Kurt frowned at that before joining his palms again, to see what would happen. And just like before a flame appeared. It wasn’t burning him and that was what Kurt got the most worried about. He stared at the fire with fascination, wondering why his true form would manifest right in this moment.

“Kurt, are you okay in there?”  Kurt clasped his hand together to hide the flame, before remembering that he had locked the door after entering the room. He took a shaky breath and unlocked the door, letting Dani come in.

“Hey.” The woman sat beside him on the floor, her legs crossed to mimic Kurt’s position.

“Hey.”

“Are you freaking out?” Kurt looked worriedly at the woman for a second before rationalizing that she couldn’t have seen him create a flame out of nowhere. He didn’t want anyone to know. He only had been here for three days, give or take few hours, he couldn’t already be shifting back. No one could know and Kurt would bid himself as much time as possible here.

“No, you guys make a cute couple.” Kurt said, bumping his shoulder with Dani’s.

“You’re Ignis? Like Santana, right?” Dani opened her hand for Kurt to take, and he did.

“Yes.”  The woman closed her eyes and Kurt saw the mark of his vein turning different shades of green, orange and yellow. The flow seemed to move from his body to Dani’s and the woman looked like she wasn’t breathing anymore. Her body started to glow and Kurt suddenly felt more relax than he had been a second before.

“Here.” Dani took Kurt’s hand and put it back on his leg. “You should feel better now.”

“What did you do?” Kurt wondered, feeling so relaxed that he was probably going to fall asleep in the minute.

“Cured your hangover and took a bit of your stress.” Dani watched over him with kindness and Kurt knew that he was going to like the woman and be friend with her.

“You’re Floral, aren’t you?” Kurt asked without a doubt.

“Half. My mother is Human, my father is Floral.”

“Amazing,” Kurt mumbled before finally falling asleep.

 

* * *

When Kurt woke up he was safely tuck in his bed back in his room, Blaine reading silently on his bed. It seemed like whenever Kurt woke up or needed someone to watch over him, Blaine was always here and Kurt didn’t find a fiber in himself that didn’t like that.

“Hello there. How are you feeling?” Blaine put a bookmark in his book and turned to face Kurt. Kurt took his time to stretch and scratch his ribcage, his body slowly coming back to life as he yawned. Blaine didn’t say anything and instead stared at him silently, waiting for Kurt to be ready to answer him.

“Better, Dani… she made me tea.”

“That was very nice of her. What kind of tea?” Kurt yawned again, stealing some time to find an answer.

“I don’t know, herbal tea. Something like that.” Blaine hummed but didn’t say anything else. “What time is it?”

“9 in the morning.”

“I slept all afternoon and night?” Kurt leaned on his elbow and held the blanket closer to his naked chest.

“The girls carried you in yesterday. I was worried but they told me you had a relaxation session and that you did yoga,” Blaine provided and Kurt only nodded along. It was better than to tell him Dani had performed some kind of ritual on him and magically took his stress and hangover away.

“Ah, yes.  What are we doing today?”

“What do you want to do? Watch movie? Read a book?”

“I want to go to the sea.” Kurt beamed at his idea and found that he was ready to beg if needed.

“We’re Saturday, there is going to be a lot of people maybe we could just-“

“Blaine,” Kurt whined.” I really don’t care. Please let just go the beach! And I promise tomorrow we’ll do something boring!”

“Well, thank you.” Kurt rolled playfully his eyes at Blaine and earned a blown raspberry.

“Turn around so I can change,” Kurt ordered and Blaine immediately shift around on his bed to face the wall.

They drove for two hours before finally finding a spot to park the car. It was bright and sunny outside and Kurt was jittery at the mere thought of seeing the sea and swimming. Swimming always sounded like fun and Kurt could barely wait. They made their way around the beach, finding a quiet spot where they could lay the towel on the sand and Kurt was in his swimsuit in a second. It came as a package deal with everything that Santana had given him right after he fell from the volcano. Theoretically, he knew that the had to be naked to go into the sea, that he needed to be able to swim to stay afloat. Whatever swimming meant, Kurt thought that if so many people could do it it probably was because it was something natural.

Kurt trotted to the sea, looking back at Blaine who had decided to stay on the beach, fully clothed for some reason. Kurt waved at him before stopping right where the lapping waves stopped. He wiggled his toes to try the sand underneath his feet when a sudden wave drowned his feet. Kurt yelped and jumped in the air at the sensation.  When he heard Blaine laughing, Kurt turned around to throw him a murderous glare.

“This is not funny Blaine Anderson! Stop making fun of me!” Kurt yelled at Blaine who just laughed harder, throwing his head back.

Kurt turned back to the sea and started moving towards it. It was cold, colder than he thought it would be and soon enough Kurt was freezing but at least he had water up until his waist. Kurt was stiff in the water, which didn’t help him feeling any better. He was liking more and more the touch of the water on his skin when he was under the shower but this, this was nothing like a shower. It was way colder than a shower.

Kurt laid his body on the water, thinking that maybe moving around would warmed him a bit. He tried to move his arms and legs, immediately losing his balance. Kurt felt his head going under water and no matter how he moved his hands he just could make his body stand up. Kurt could feel his breath coming short, he could feel himself losing the battle against the water. He kept moving his legs, his body fighting against the water, but no matter how he moved he still couldn’t make his head stay above the water. He felt two strong hands holding him up from under his armpit and taking him out of water. Kurt instantly wrapped himself around Blaine’s body, holding him as tight as he could as he took big gulps of air. Kurt readjusted his grip around Blaine’s shoulders as the shorter man held his legs around his own waist.

“You okay?” Blaine asked worriedly. Kurt buried his head into the crook of Blaine’s neck, needed desperately the comforting touch.

“Not so much.”  Blaine turned around and started walking back to the beach, struggling with each step as he walked into the water.  Blaine still held him when they arrived on the sand he still didn’t let go when he sat on the towel.

It took Kurt a couple of minute before he finally let go of the other man and wrapped himself in the spare towel they had brought. He sat there freezing and shivering only for a couple of second before a small child came to them and put right under his nose a very pink and very glittery cupcake.

“For you.” The little girl said. She had two pigtails floating with the wind and a pink tutu with an Iron Man shirt.

“Hum, thank?”

“Mom says it’s full of sugar and that you could used the … I don’t know what was the word but it’ll make you feel better! Promise.” Kurt looked at the cake and smiled at the little girl.

“What is your name?”

“Petra. My name is Petra. P. E. T.R.A. Petra, I just learnt how to spell it and write in class.” Kurt made sure to look impressed and tickled her belly.  The little girl giggled at that and used her two hands to prone the attacking finger away.

“Do you want to share it with me, Petra?” Kurt showed up the cupcake, making Petra worried her lip between her teeth.

“But mom said it was for you.” The little girl answered hiding her hand behind her back.

“I’m sure your mom wouldn’t mind and beside if it’s my cupcake then I want to share it with you.” At that the girl nodded and smiled broadly, cupping her two little hand to receive her part of the cupcake. Kurt cut it in two and gave her the biggest part. Petra shoved it into her mouth and smiled while she shew, allowing Kurt to have a perfect view on the cake.

“I’m Kurt, by the way. And this is Blaine. Say thank to your mom, okay?” Petra nodded and started walking back to her mother while waving at them both.

“Bye bye Kurt!”

Kurt waved for a long time after Petra had turn away to run to her mother. Kurt felt Blaine’s hand on his back, rubbing soothing circles. Kurt slowly turned his head to Blaine, holding his head against his shoulder. He smiled at him and scooted closer to the man, against his side.

“I thought swimming would be fun.” Kurt muttered, holding the towel closer to his body. Blaine encircle Kurt’s wait with his arm and hummed.

“You never swam before.”

“No.” Kurt answered, looking straight ahead.

“Do you want me to teach you?” Blaine offered but Kurt shook his head no, he didn’t want to go back into the sea. Not so short after almost drowning and dying. Kurt always knew water could be deadly.

“I think  I want to go back to our dorm.”

“Okay, let’s go.” Blaine packed up everything while Kurt put his clothes back on. They turned up the heat once in the car and Blaine’s hand found Kurt’s neck once, a reassuring touch. At the touch Kurt felt his fingers tickling, his palm growing hotter. Not because he was shy or because the touch was too much, but because the temperature of his hand literally got higher. When they finally got back to their building they quickly made their way to their hallway and Kurt excused himself to the bathroom. He locked himself in a stall and looked at his palm worriedly.

Once again they create a flame that danced around in his palms. Kurt bit his lip and clasped his hand together, hiding them behind his back. He put his two hands on the small of his back, right above his waistband and Kurt felt his skin hardening at the touch. Kurt’s heart clenched in reaction and the man took immediately his hands off, afraid of what was happening to his body. He tried to touch it again, to press a tentative finger against the skin, but once again, what he felt wasn’t soft and smooth. It was more like rock hard and warm. Kurt couldn’t see and he could only touch to try and figure out what was happening, fear creeping inside of his chest.

Kurt had no idea what was happening, why it was happening and he felt like he had no one he could tell. He was losing control of his body, things were happening and he had no idea what it was. He felt powerless and resourceless for the first time in his life and Kurt felt water prickling at the corner of his eyes. He gripped his hair in despair, pulling hard on it. There was only one thing possible happening to his body, Kurt was turning back.  

Kurt felt anxiety swelling around his heart, he felt his breath coming out short and his head feeling dizzy. He slided down the door and stayed there, trying to regain control over his lungs but nothing came. He put his head in between his knees, his tears burning his eyes as he gulped with difficulty air inside of his body.

It took him forever to start breathing again, to calm down enough to get out of the stall and check the damage. He carefully stepped outside and checked his face on the mirror. He was blotchy but that was expected given the episode he just had. He reached with shaky hands for the sink to hold himself up and took several big breath to give himself strength. He turned his back to the mirror and rose his shirt, revealing a dark patch on his body with orange veins running on it. Kurt pulled back his shirt like the vision had burnt him and blinked away fresh tears.

He walked back to his dorm, granted Blaine a half assed smiled and got to bed. He hided under the cover and tried to forget about his condition, try to forget about the ugly part of his body that was turning back, try to forget that he almost drown and instead focused on Blaine’s touch on his neck, or the way Blaine had smell when he had saved him from the water. Kurt shifted around in his bed and turned to see Blaine who was peacefully reading.

“Thank you for today,” Blaine looked up from his book and smiled warmly at him.

“You’re welcome. I had fun too.”

“Maybe tomorrow we could do something quieter.” Kurt yawned and snuggled against his pillow.

“Definitely, whatever you want, Kurt.” Kurt didn’t know if it was his sleepy and emotionally drained self that imagined it but he could swear that Blaine had said his name with tenderness.  

Kurt dreamt of his people that night. He trashed and turned in his bed as images of Ignis people were being murdered and enslaved. His mind kept showing him how human would torture Ignis, how nothing would be left of them once the human got their hands on his people.

Kurt opened his eyes in fear, his chest heaving quickly as his breath came out sporadically. He hold the blanket closer to him, letting tears rolled on his cheeks as he tried to push away all thought of his nightmare. He pushed the heels of his hand on his eyes, trying to get rid of everything he saw, the dark night around him making him feel claustrophobic. He knew he was here for a reason, but the humans he had met so far were nothing like he imagined. They were kind and funny, they were just as different as Ignis were and they didn’t look so threatening. The few people he had seen in class were the most normal persons ever. They couldn’t be the monsters everyone was so afraid of, it didn’t make sense to him. Blaine couldn’t be one of the monsters Ignis were warned about.

Kurt didn’t fall back asleep until dawn and when he woke up around 10, he felt even more tired than before. Blaine was once again awake before him and surprisingly a cup of coffee was apparently waiting for Kurt on his nightstand.

Kurt sat on his bed, putting his comforter around his shoulder to keep him from getting cold. He pointed toward the mug and Blaine nodded his approval. Kurt grabbed the mug and instantly started sipping at it, watching Blaine from behind the steam.

“Morning,” Blaine greeted and Kurt smiled however he could, not feeling particularly fine. He started scratching his back when his fingers came with the harder part of his skin and Kurt took his hands away like he had been burnt. He put his shirt back in place and with one hand tightened the blanket’s embrace around him.

He had forgotten for a second that this was a problem as well. That his body had decided to react and to shift back. Kurt put the mug back on the nightstand and fell back onto his pillow.

“Can we just watch a movie and eat for today?” Kurt mumbled from his pillow.

“Sure, let’s just bring the bed together so we can watch it from here instead of killing our back on the floor,” Blaine said, already moving to drag Kurt’s bed closer to him.

“Good idea. You do that and I’ll think of a movie I want to watch.” Blaine laughed at the Kurt like burrito in the bed and put the beds together to create a much larger one.

Kurt wormed his way closer to Blaine so he would be able to see the computer screen and stayed wrapped in his blanket during the first movie. Then he got hungry and Blaine fished out of nowhere a jar of ice cream. It was another first for Kurt who claimed the thing for himself and Blaine gladly let him have it. During the second movie, Kurt lost the blanket but slowly moved closer to Blaine claiming not to see the screen very well. Kurt had never been one craving touches, and in his actual condition he didn’t want to risk Blaine to pat him on the back and find out about his body. But Kurt needed someone to reassure him and he knew a simple touch could do this. He couldn’t go to either Santana or Dani because he knew that the woman would report it back to his father and Kurt would be back in Incendium faster than he could say his name. That left Blaine and Kurt knew that he didn’t need to convince himself of all this but he needed a reason to move toward the other man, at least a reason that wasn’t that his body looked perfect for cuddling.

As it turned out Kurt fell asleep during the third movie. He passed out because of his nights, because of his worries and how tired he overall was by everything that went around. Being snuggled against Blaine made him feel safe and protect and Kurt didn’t need more to fall asleep on the man. When Kurt woke up for the third time this day he had he head on Blaine’s laps and Blaine had his arms wrap around Kurt’s middle above the blanket. Kurt mentally thanked Blaine for being a gentleman and turned on his back to look up at the other man.  Blaine pushed his book aside and looked down, smiling.

“Slept well sleepyhead?”

“Don’t make fun of me.” Kurt poked Blaine in his stomach but neither of them moved and Kurt just thought that Blaine was okay with him being use as a giant pillow. They had been lacking personal space boundaries almost from the moment they met so it didn’t make the situation awkward. And that, that made Kurt paused because he was smiling to a man, who he was laying on and had fell asleep on and he had never felt more at peace. Kurt’s face grew hot and he pictured himself blushing. He slowly stood up and claimed bathroom break to get out of the room and almost run to the said bathroom.  Kurt locked himself in what he could almost call now his “freaking out” stall and sat on the floor. He snapped his fingers and instantly a spark appeared. Kurt did it again, and again. Seeing fire calmed him, it calmed him the way Blaine made his peaceful and Kurt put his palms together to create a real flame. He stared at it for a while trying to sort out his thoughts.

It was undeniable now that he had a crush on Blaine, that he wanted to kiss the man and sleep next to him again if it was even something that was possible. Kurt  started smiling stupidly at the realization, he grinned with all his face and the flame turned into a different shade of pink and orange. Kurt laughed and looked up, leaning his head against the door. He had a crush, for the first time in his life Kurt like someone, he was human and Blaine was all his.

Kurt didn’t panicked when he checked his back and saw that the dark patch was bigger. He maybe had a chance with Blaine and he wanted this chance. Kurt walked back to the room with a bright smile of his face. Kurt resumed his place on the big bed next to Blaine and smiled at him before turning his head in shyness. Blaine breathlessly laughed at that and got back to reading his book. Kurt grabbed his phone and sent a text to Dani. He now knew how to do it and he wanted to talk about his newfound discovery, but somehow he knew that Santana would be obnoxious about it.

They made plans for the next day and Kurt right offered to order take out to Blaine who approved of the idea. They ate in bed, stealing from each other plate before falling asleep together in the bed they just didn’t have the energy to detach.

 

* * *

“So you got it bad for your cute roommate?” Dani asked all dimples and smiles. The woman wiggled her eyebrow and wrapped her finger around her mug on the table. Kurt looked around worriedly, almost expecting a wild Santana to appear.

“He is just extremely nice and kind and …” Kurt waved his hand around and blushed furiously.

“Yeah, you got it bad. “ Dani giggled and twirled her spoon in the mug. They were sitting in the middle of a coffee shop, Kurt had asked Dani to come alone and the woman had gladly accepted. They both needed more friends anyway and Kurt knew that Dani was more sensitive to these things. She was a Floral afterall.

“I’m just not sure if he is… you know?”

“No I don’t.” The woman teased.

“I’m not sure he is interested in me. He sees me, he makes sometimes for me but maybe we’re just friend and I’ve been making things up.”

“You told me he held you in your sleep.” Kurt shrugged, not sure what to answer or even if Dani wanted an answer. “That he saved you from drowning.  Maybe he is just shy.”

“Why would he be shy?”

“Because he likes you too and he is scared to fuck it up!” Dani sat back, crossing her arms over her stomach. “You’re cute, a little clueless but cute. You should let me do your hair sometimes.” Kurt eyed suspiciously Dani silver and purple hair and smiled worriedly at her.

“We’ll see about that. So what should I do?”

“Be yourself, smile a lot, flirt and when time is right you kiss him,” Dani clicked her tongue and nodded at herself. “It should work.”

“What if it doesn’t?” Kurt worried his bottom lip between his teeth, looking purposely at his drink instead of Dani. He felt uncomfortable, this was the first time that he showed interest in boys and he had no idea what he was doing. When he was still in the blissful ignorance things were easier. Now that he acknowledged his attraction for the man he had to do something in one way or another.

“Kurt, that’s the thing with a relationship. You take risk, you put yourself in danger and sometimes it pays and sometimes you get heartbroken. It’s a risk and you have to ask yourself if you’re willing to take it or not. If Blaine is worth it or not.”

“He is.” Kurt didn’t have to think about that, it came to him naturally just like breathing did.

“So go get him, Tiger.”  Kurt nodded at her, sitting back in his chair. Dani waved her hand to shoo him out with an extra exasperate sigh.

“Oh, you mean right now?”

“Yes right now, Kurt.” The man took his jacket off the chair and put it on while walking to the door, throwing one last glance behind him to see Dani rolled her eyes at him and smiled fondly.

Kurt made his way around campus faster than ever. If this was what having crush was like, then Kurt knew that he could easily get addicted to it. He didn’t even feel his feet working, he was weightless and in that moment he knew he could do anything if he put his mind to it. He felt powerful and nothing but Blaine mattered.

Kurt turned around the corner of their hallway and stopped at the door, hearing Blaine on the phone.

“I know I can’t. I’m not saying it’s rational, we are talking feelings here, emotion. You should try it out sometimes.” Kurt abruptly stopped mid movement, his hand just above the doorknob. “He is my priority, no matter what happen, he is. It doesn’t matter what motivates it.”

Kurt’s brows furrowed, he had no idea what he was listening to but also maybe he shouldn’t be snooping. He knocked on the door loudly and waited a second before entering the room. Blaine was putting down his phone. He turned around and smiled at Kurt.

Kurt didn’t want Blaine to think that he was spying on him so he didn’t say anything about the phone call he overheard. He looked between Blaine and the two bed put together and tilted his head to the side, desperately trying to be flirty.

“We still have just one giant bed.” Blaine fidgeted and looked at the unmade bed. If anyone was to walk in at the moment they could get the wrong idea about what had been going on in here.

“I just thought that this sleeping arrangement was better. Plenty space to cuddle.” Blaine half whispered the last sentence. Kurt smiled to himself and hold his hand out for Blaine to take. He waited until the man did so and he lead them to the bed where they lay down next to each other.

“This is good, right?” Kurt asked, linking his fingers with Blaine on the pillow in between their heads.

“Very.” Blaine answered, kissing Kurt’s knuckles. “We should do something together.”

“You mean just us?” Kurt wondered, liking the way Blaine blushed and moved his head around even while lying.

“Yeah, just us.”

“Like a date.”

“Exactly like a date.” Blaine repeated.

 

* * *

The two bed stayed together and never did either one of them made a move to separate them. It meant that every night Kurt crawled into bed next to Blaine, and slept closer and closer to him until they woke up one morning limbs tangled with each other. Kurt head’s on Blaine chest, Blaine’s arm around Kurt’s shoulder, and their legs intertwined. The more the day passed the more connected to Blaine Kurt felt. Unfortunately the more the days passed the more his body continued to shift, it was even quicker now and Kurt had to make sure to always wear several layers of clothes to hide it, sleeping in winter pajama that covered his whole body except for his head.

Most of his back was now covered in ashes and solid magma and there was this line coming from on side of his body and crossing diagonally his chest to reach the other side. The line was purely made of magma.

Kurt had been here for a month now but he already had some habits. Meet Santana for breakfast on Saturday, meet Santana and Dani for movie night on Tuesday, and the rest of the time was just Blaine time when Kurt was not wandering around campus from class to class. He had found out that classes were much more interesting here than there was back at the castle and Kurt loved listening to the professor. He didn’t mind the homework and the essay he had to write, Blaine helped him with this. Blaine always helped him without asking question and Kurt felt like it didn’t matter who he was with Blaine, because Blaine was accepting and open minded and Kurt loved that about the man.

Blaine always woke up before Kurt, and often Blaine used this time to go shower which gave Kurt time to rearrange himself or get rid of his morning erection. It always made Kurt blush knowing that Blaine had this effect on him. He was not stupid he knew it happen to every man but it seemed to Kurt that sleeping next to Blaine only made him crave  for more, more of Blaine’s touch, of his hand traveling on his face,  for some kind of release. Blaine always left Kurt wanting more, more smiles, more touches, more brush of his fingers against Kurt’s neck.

Kurt worried that he was the only one affected by their sleeping arrangement.

Kurt woke up one morning before Blaine, their bodies flushed against each other, Kurt’s leg threw over Blaine’s. Kurt shuffled to move a little, trying not to wake Blaine up. But the second he started shifting Blaine arm encircle his waist and brought him closer, making Kurt thrust against Blaine’s crotch.  Kurt tried to bite off the moan that fell from his lips, unsuccessfully. Blaine’s eyes shot open at the sound and immediately found Kurt’s. They stare at each other, the only sound breaking the silence being their short intake of breath.

Kurt could feel the hot ghost of breath on his lips coming from Blaine, he was becoming more aware of every part of Blaine’s body flushed against his, of Blaine’s eyes staring at him.  Blaine hand tentatively found the small of Kurt’s back and Kurt uncontrollably thrust forward once again at the touch. Kurt forehead fell against Blaine’s, bringing their mouths close enough to feel the warmth of the other mouth but without being able to touch. They panted at the flare of arousal coursing through their bodies and Kurt slowly rolled his hips again against Blaine’s.

Nothing has ever felt so intimate, their whole body touching from toes to chest but they still couldn’t close the last gap between their mouth, the share the air between them.

They stared into each other eyes, Kurt’s chest constrict at the overwhelming want. He wanted Blaine, he wanted his hands on his body, he wanted his lips to kiss every patch of his skin, god he wanted Blaine. He needed to know if Blaine tasted as sweet as he seemed, if his tongue would be as warm as his fingers on Kurt’s body.

Blaine’s hand traveled from his waist to Kurt’s thighs, his eyes following Kurt’s tongue who licked his own lips unconsciously. Kurt noticed how darker Blaine’s eyes became at this and he did it again, his heart fluttering when Blaine almost gave in  to close the gap between their mouths. Blaine gripped Kurt’s leg and moved it higher, forcing the other man to grind against him.

Kurt was choked by how much he wanted Blaine. His hips jerked forward and Kurt saw how Blaine hold himself back, tried not to ondulate his hips as well so Kurt did it again and Blaine’s whimpers at the sensation was all it took to break Kurt restraints. He wanted Blaine to give in, to  thrust against him and to moan loudly, he needed to hear him, to make him so desperate with need that he would seek release. He put his hand on the back og Blaine’s neck, caressing his hair and holding Blaine as close as he could without giving in and kissing him. He started rolling his hips though, he grinded against Blaine and didn’t stop. Everything around him was Blaine, the weight on his leg was Blaine, the murmured moans in his ears was Blaine, every spark of pleasure was Blaine.

“Kurt.” Blaine panted, his hand still on Kurt’s ass making them move closer to each other with every thrust. “Kurt, wait. I… I need to slow down for a second.” Kurt immediately stopped but didn’t move. Blaine looked wrecked, his hair was messy and his bottom lip was blood red as if he had bit on it too hard. He was pure lust.

“Yes?” Kurt asked, worried that he had done something wrong.

“I just..” Blaine panted, trying to gain control over his own breathing. “I just want to kiss you once before we do anything else. Please.” Kurt only nodded against Blaine’s forehead, his eyes traveling between Blaine’s eyes and his mouth.

Blaine’s hand moved from Kurt’s leg to his neck and then he cupped Kurt’s face and placed a soft kiss against his lips. The kiss was gentle and it made Kurt’s leg weak. Blaine kissed him as if Kurt was his everything and maybe that right at this moment they were each other everything. Kurt let Blaine captured his lips into another kiss, he let the man taste him and willingly opened his mouth to let in Blaine’s tongue. The soft whine coming from Blaine made Kurt’s hips moved forward involuntary.

They didn’t stop kissing, couldn’t stop for a second and instead they started moving together, the fabric of their pajama too hot against their skin. They couldn’t part even for a second and when Kurt finally came it was with Blaine’s name on his lip. The Ignis’s body went limp and pliant and Kurt let Blaine uses him to bring himself over the edge.

Blaine fell on Kurt, his body covering the other man’s. He thread his fingers into Kurt who closed them around Blaine’s. They laid in bed, sharing sloppy kisses and sleepy smiles, to spent and content to move.

“We should go shower.”

“Blaine, I’m not planning on moving.” Kurt giggled then winced when he felt the dry come against his skin. “Okay, fine. Shower.”

“Go ahead, I’ll join you in a minute.” Blaine said, offering Kurt his body wash and watching the man go. Kurt washed himself quickly he would’ve give everything to have Blaine in the same shower than his but he couldn’t without risking showing his back. Kurt was putting on his fresh pajama when Blaine entered the room. Kurt shoved him into a shower, not without a serious case of pouting and puppy eyes for Kurt to come with him.  He didn’t but he did wait for him.  

“Remember when you told me that we should do something?” Kurt shouted from the bench he was sitting on.

“Yeah, did you have something in mind?” Blaine answered from the shower

“There is this fair, not too far away. It looks like fun and I think we could go. I’ve never been to a fair.” Blaine poked his head out of the shower before stepping completely out with just a towel around his waist. Kurt couldn’t help but stare, not matter what they had just done he still hadn’t see Blaine naked and this was the closest he’d ever been to.

“Kurt?” Kurt looked up, blushing of embarrassment.

“Sorry. You were saying something?” Blaine giggled at that and sat beside Kurt on the bench, his naked body now very close to Kurt completely clothed body.

“I was saying that yes, I’d love to take you to a fair. We should go today.”

 

* * *

It didn’t take long for them both to put on some clothes and jump into a bus to drive them away and closer to the fair. Kurt had seen the add in the campus newspaper and he was certain that it could be fun. He had no clue what to expect, he was thinking balloons and maybe this sort of weird and pink candy that looked so fluffy on the add. They rode in perfect silence, glancing to each other from time to time. Kurt took Blaine’s hand in his, intertwining their fingers and Blaine let him.

Kurt could feel his body heating up a little, he could feel his back getting warmer but right now he didn’t want to think about it. He was with Blaine, it was his first real date ever and maybe they weren’t doing things the right way, but it was their way and it seemed much better.

Blaine pulled gently on Kurt’s hand when their stop came into view and they both stepped out with ten other people.

They walked a little before finally getting to the entry of the fair. A huge sign was hanging in the air, announcing that they were entering a world supposedly made of fairytale. Kurt snorted at that, according to human everything was magical, if only they knew. He quickly glanced at Blaine, wondering how the man would take the fact that he, Kurt, was not what he looked like. Kurt wondered for the first time how he was ever going to tell him that he wasn’t human, that he was something else, that he was trying to find a way to understand his species and a way to annihilate them if war came.

“You’re being very silent.” Blaine observed, waiting next to Kurt and for them to walk pass the sign.

“I don’t know what to expect.” Kurt half lied, forcing a smile on his face as he tried to swallow the lump in his throat. Maybe one day Blaine wouldn’t be waiting next to him, maybe one day Blaine would think that he was a monster. Maybe he should never tell Blaine about who he really was.

“It’s mostly awful ride that makes you want to vomit, or calm games where you can win plush and lots of candy eating. Actually we should start with the candy eating.” Blaine laughed, tilting his head to the side to get a better look at Kurt. Kurt fully turned his face to look at Blaine and this time genuinely smiled at him and at how he could be sometimes. How with just few little words he could get rid of Kurt’s anxiety.

“Let’s get you candy then.” Kurt followed the overjoyed man, trying to find a stand selling any sort of sweets.

“We should get candy floss, we should totally get candy floss!” Blaine exclaimed as he saw two girls walking with pink and blue cloud of sugar. Kurt followed them with his eyes, trying to understand what the hell they were eating.

Kurt lost Blaine for a second as he ran toward the place where they were selling weird looking food. Kurt shook his head and watched Blaine buying two candy floss and walking back to him with the biggest and happiest smile Kurt ever saw on someone’s face.

“One for you and one for me.” Blaine announced, obviously very proud of himself.

“And how do I eat this?” Kurt asked, frowning at the food. Blaine picked some from his own and brought his fingers with the food to Kurt’s mouth, feeding him with the pink sugary candy.

“Just like that.” Blaine said, watching Kurt licking his lips clean of sugar. Kurt tasted the way the candy felt like air in his mouth and how it still tasted sweet on his tongue.

“I like that.” Blaine kissed his cheek and grabbed Kurt’s free hand to lead them down the road. There were stands on each side of the road, little kids playing and trying to win plush or to win some money at the fake casino machine.

“Can we try it out?” Kurt wondered, in awe of the slow and mechanic movement of the slot machine. He could see the money dangling dangerously off the edge and as he put his own coins in it in hope that some would fall. They stayed there a long time, Kurt wanting to see the moment all of the coins would fall over.

“This is irritating. Why aren’t they falling?” Kurt wondered, pouting and frowning. Blaine smiled at him and kissed Kurt, his pout turning into a grin at the kiss.

“Let’s play something else.” Blaine put his hand on the small of Kurt’s back and a jolt of heat flare into Kurt’s back. It could be nothing, Kurt thought. His back wasn’t that hot if Blaine could touch it, and didn’t have to mean anything. Kurt pushed the thought aside, trying to think only  about how every time he walked his hips brushed against Blaine’s. Another flash of heat distracted him for a second before calming down.

Kurt did his best to hide it and continued to walk with Blaine.

They arrived in front of a machine where Blaine had to throw a ball and do his best to make soda cans fell over. It seemed rather simple and that was the trick. Blaine had to try several time to get it right, only to be able to make one can falling. Kurt encouraged him and he could see that every time he whispered little praises to Blaine his blush would darken on his neck.

In the end Blaine only manage to win some hideous snowglobe and Kurt had to laugh at how miserable he looked like with his prize in hand.

“I wanted to win the big teddy bear for you.” Blaine admitted, taking Kurt’s hand in his.

“You’ll do that next time.” Kurt gently said as they turned around a corner.

That’s when Kurt heard it.

The sound of a gunshot. He snapped his head  to where the sound had come from, and before he could localised the source of the noise, it happened again, and again. He didn’t know where to look, and started walking back in panic. He had never heard something like this, he had never heard it but he immediately knew what sound it was and what was the cause of it. It brought back to him all the stories he had heard when he was little about the human and their evil weapon, how they could kill with just one bullet.

“Kurt?” Kurt heard Blaine calling his name, far away from him. Everything was starting to get blurry and hot. His skin was burning and his eyes felt heavy. “Kurt, it’s not real those are just for games.” Kurt heard what Blaine was telling him but he wasn’t understanding, his brain refused to work and the words got tangled.

“Shit.” Kurt heard again before feeling his body being hoist up and he felt someone moving him around. “Kurt? Kurt can you hear me?” Blaine called again, putting Kurt down against a tree in a corner away from the crowd. Kurt could pick out Blaine’s silhouette but his vision wasn’t clear the more he tried to open his eyes the less he could saw. He could barely see his hand and realised that they must have turn to ashes when he guessed two dark moving limbs.

“Hey, what’s going on here?” Kurt heard a voice calling. He didn’t know the voice, he had no idea where it came from and on instinct Kurt shrink down on himself. “What the fuck? That dude is on fire! Hey look, that dude is one fire!” The same voice started calling and Kurt wondered where Blaine was and  what was happening. He couldn’t let them see, he couldn’t reveal himself to the Human, he had to hide who he was. Kurt shrunk even more on himself, trying to make his body as little as possible so that no one could see what was happening. He could feel his body weakening and turning too hot for his human form to handle, he knew he was shifting and Kurt fought against it. He couldn’t shift in the middle of a crowd.

“I’m so putting this on youtube, man! Fucking monster.” Another voice called and Kurt tried to seek out help.

Kurt felt a cold hand on his forearm and a body protecting him from the other people around, shielding him.

“Santana, I know you’ve been following me. It’s a code red. I need a helicopter, you can track me with the chip in my phone.  The Prince is shifting back, we need to get him to a volcano as soon as possible. I repeat, this is code red. Every agent on alert.”

Ironically Kurt’s inside turned cold while his body continued on growing hot. His hands were ashes, slowly turning into magma rock as well. He couldn’t see it but he knew very well that his back must have been on fire by now and he could feel less and less his legs so it must have meant that they were turning into a tail again.

“You, give me that.” Kurt heard a woman’s voice, Santana’s voice. Kurt’s body grew hotter and he only managed to feel Blaine holding him up and walking to what sound like a helicopter before passing out from exhaustion of shifting back.

 

* * *

At first his father and the doctor had kept him in a sort of induce coma for as long as they could, Kurt’s body but also mind had been shocked after the violent shift back and the last thing they wanted was for Kurt to keep the stigma of the terrible episode.  When they finally  stopped the medical coma Kurt drifted in and out of consciousness for days, worrying his father even further than he already was. Kurt was barely aware of what was going on around him, he could sometimes make out voices but that was it. He knew that his father was as often as possible with him, that Santana has stopped by once but no sign of Blaine. And maybe this was for the better.

 

* * *

It took Kurt a week to fully wake up, and when he finally did he stayed in bed for another week. Not because he was feeling weak or because he still had to heal but because he needed time. He needed time to think about everything that he had gone through, about Blaine and his role by his side during his whole stay on the Upper Earth, mostly to think about Blaine.

Burt came by Kurt’s room at least once a day and sat beside him. Kurt knew that Burt was waiting for him to speak first, to lay out everything that he kept inside. Kurt stayed silent, still trying to sort out his thoughts.

 

* * *

“You can’t stay silent much longer, Kurt. And you also can’t stay in that bed. Get up, get ready we are going for a walk!” Burt stormed into Kurt’s room, leaving no room for his son to argue. He would never admit that facing his son was scaring him but he’d rather deal with it now rather than later.

“Dad.” Kurt sighed in defeat.

“No.” Burt argued, the veins on his forearms turning a darker shade of orange. “You’re not going to hide behind your silence anymore. We’re doing this and we are doing it now. We are gonna talk, son.”

“Will you answer truthfully every question I have?” Kurt turned his head to face his father, his eyes challenging the old man.

“I’ll do my best.”

“Not good enough.” Kurt answered defiantly. He didn’t care that he was talking to a King or that he was talking to his father, he felt betrayed by the only person he thought he could fully trust and it hurt more than any cut or burn.

“Come on.” Burt huffed, turning his back to his son and walking out. Kurt looked at him before sliding off his bed and turning his lower appendices into legs, or at least what looked like legs. He followed his father until the man came to a stop. They were on one of the few balconies the castle had. From there you could see pretty much all the kingdom, the magma roads and the people traveling and living peacefully.

“Blaine was an agent, he was working for me. I asked him to protect you for as long as you were Human. Santana was an agent as well but you knew  about it, you wanted me to let you deal with this alone and we had compromise on one agent.”

“That’s why you parked half of a division around campus.”  Kurt crossed his arms over his torso, the flames on his head rising up and turning red at his anger.

“It was just Santana, and Blaine. They had full access to one of our division up there, yes. But no one followed you except for them both.” Kurt nodded, his gaze lost in the horizon. He had lots of questions and he didn’t know if he wanted to get any answers now or if he wanted to hear it from Blaine later or maybe never.

“I don’t know exactly what happened between you two. I’m stupid though and I can easily guess.” Burt tried, hoping that his son would open up. “He called that morning, he called and he resigned.”

“Good for him.” Kurt snapped bitterly. He didn’t want to think about what it could possibly mean. Kurt wasn’t sure of anything now. He thought he knew Blaine, turned out nothing about him was true.

“He is Ignis.” Kurt said, it was more of a statement than a question and Burt didn’t feel the need to answer.

“Did you find what you were looking for?” Burt asked, referring to the conversation they had that had led to this, the conversation about  Kurt going up and living as a human, infiltrating their lives so he would understand them.

No, Kurt thought.  Because on his way he had lost sight of what he was doing there. He had fall for Blaine, every little convictions he had about human crumbling down silently and so easily. Except that Blaine wasn’t human, probably didn’t like him either and all of this had just been Blaine doing his job.

“Yes.” Kurt answered instead. “At least I thought I did, when I still thought that Blaine was human.”

“You should talk to him.” Burt patted Kurt on the back and Kurt didn’t flinch away but didn’t welcome the touch either. For the first time in his life, he couldn’t trust his dad and it hurt.

“I know you are angry at me, that you don’t trust me anymore and I’m sure you are blaming me for a lot of things. I did what I had to do to protect you.” Burt stood up to leave but turn around to look at his son. “You should really talk to him. If what he did is putting you into this misery then he must mean something to you.”

“He did.” Kurt sighed, his eyes turning sad. “He does.”

“Uhuh. Thought so.” Burt hugged his son and Kurt let him. He couldn’t stay mad at his dad and it would take a while before he would fully trust him again. In the end Kurt loved his dad more than anything and they were everything to each other. He couldn’t stay mad at him forever no matter what the man did.

“For a second I thought I loved him, Dad.” Kurt confessed and Burt’s embrace tighten around his son.

“You should talk to Santana.” Burt said before leaving his son alone on the balcony. Kurt didn’t feel like moving. He loved the view from here and he wondered if Blaine was still here or back up there, on the Upper earth. He wondered if the man had gotten what he wanted from this mission. If he got the recognition he hoped, or the raise he wanted, the thrill of being so close to the royal family or if Kurt had only been one boring mission that Blaine would quickly forget.

Kurt didn’t go to find Santana, Santana found him.

 

* * *

“Do you know that it’s a pain to come back here, to shift back into a full Ignis body and travel like everybody else, in magma? Just so I would be able to talk to you, don’t you answer your messages like ever?” The woman plopped down next to Kurt’s chair and started picking food from his plate. It was way too early for her to be that cheeky and Kurt didn’t get enough sleep to handle her and her quirky way.

“What are you doing here?”

“Making sure you’re not being stupid. Which surprise, you are.”  Santana tried to steal some more food but Kurt slapped her hand.

“What are you talking about?”

“You and lover boy.” Kurt winced and strategically looked for an exit. “Look, Kurt.  He was just doing his job and then everything got out of hands.”

“You don’t say.”

“Don’t be a petulant child. He did what he had to do, just like you were. Sort of. You were doing a terrible job actually.” If stare could kill Santana would’ve probably been dead by now. Kurt pursued his lip in a thin line, not saying anything. “He didn’t betrayed you, he just forgot to tell you some things. Just like you did with him.”

“That is one way to put it.” Kurt glared at the woman. “I didn’t make him believe I had feelings for the guy, I didn’t crush any and all limits I had just for a job.”

“Do you think this is what happen?” Santana sat back, her whole body undulating. For some reason Santana’s body wasn’t as rigid as Kurt or any other Ignis. Her body was much more flame than it was magma. Kurt stared at her before mimicking her position.

“He is an agent, a soldier. He did his job and I was just collateral damage.” Kurt answered, playing heartlessly with his food. He didn’t feel like eating now, his stomach was in knot and if he still was in a human form Kurt knew that he would feel tears forming at the corner of his eyes.

“Kurt, he resigned.”

“Everybody keep telling me this like it’s some big of a deal or something.” Kurt pushed his plate forcefully on the table and stood up.

“Because it is. Kurt this job was the only way for him to … Look it’s not my story to tell yada yada. Actually this is bullshit so I’m gonna tell you. His family was banished because his grand father kind of tried to kill someone from the royal family. I don’t have all the details but anyway the things is, he was trying to earn their right back, he was trying to give his family the right to come back to Incendium. This was supposed to the be the job that could help them all out. But he resigned, which means that they are still stucked and now Blaine has to live with the guilt of betraying his family, having feelings for you and the heart wrenching pain of being dumped.  So if you could just pull your head out of your ass for one second you’d see what we all see. That you are miserable, that you want him back and you have feelings for him and that yes there are some trust issues between you two but you need to work them out! Because trust me, lover boy epically failed at this job for you and he gave up much more than you could believe.” with that Santana finally snatched some food from Kurt’s plate, throwing it inside of her mouth and raising her eyebrows in victory.

“Is that supposed to make me want to talk to him?” Kurt wondered, his chin held high.

“You shouldn’t need convincing.  But apparently my job isn’t finished with you.” Santana rose from her chair and put her two hands on, the table, looking straight into Kurt’s eyes. “He could be back down here, he is not. He could’ve finished the job, he resigned. He could’ve just pretend he liked you, he went on a date with you. Those are your signs, you moron. Now act like a man and go talk to him.”

“Why are you rooting for him?” Kurt asked as the woman walked to the door. She abruptly stopped halfway and her body went rigid.

“Because I wished someone would’ve root for me too.”

“What do you mean?” Kurt frowned with concern and stepped forward to touch Santanta’s shoulder but didn’t at the last second.

“Dani had to go back.” Santana simply answered before leaving the big dinning room. Kurt stood there, feeling a hole in his chest. He had witness first hand the love those two women shared and in the blink of an eye it had all vanished just because someone must have found out. Kurt ached for them and he thought over and over again about what Santana had just told him.

It took him another week before acknowledging the fact that he wanted, no, needed to talk to Blaine and that even if the man didn’t want to, he at least had to try.

 

* * *

It didn’t take a lot to convince Burt to let Kurt go back up to the Upper Earth, the man was just desperate to see his son got better and it didn’t matter to him that it meant for Kurt to go back up.

Just like the first time his fall on the Upper Earth hurt like hell and Santana saved him from the flames. He stayed at her place the night and watched her walked around the flat at two in the morning, ghost of her past with Dani heavy in the air. He sent her back to sleep and around five joined her in bed, the both of them finally falling asleep, Santana’s head on Kurt’s chest because she couldn’t sleep alone anymore.

The next morning they both drank in silence their coffee. Santana because she didn’t like to show weakness like she had the night before, Kurt was just silent because he kept replaying his plan in his head over and over again.

“He’ll be at the library. He is working on his thesis. You just have to walk in there with your tight pants, your strong arms and your “I’m better than everyone” look and the man won’t know what hit him. Well, he will but you get it.”

“Thanks.” Kurt answered, putting his mug carefully on the table. “I think it’s time for me to go.”

“You remember your way to the library?” Santana walked around the couch, her  feet dragging on the floor.

“I think so.”

“Good, go get him and don’t even think about sexiling me. Also remember that your dad said 72 hours, human hours!” Santana yelled from the couch where she had fell heavily, only her pointed finger appearing.

“Yes mom!” Kurt shouted from the door and shut it down as loudly as he can.  He walked to the library when he could’ve easily took the bus. He stopped by the coffee shop, bought two coffee and continued his walk. He quickly arrived at the library and Kurt stood in front of it for a minute, trying to gather enough courage to walk in and find Blaine.

He was paralyzed, his feet stuck on the ground and the longer he stared at the building the bigger it looked. Kurt could feel his throat going dry and his chest filling up with anxiety. What if Blaine didn’t want to talk to him or worse. Maybe Blaine just wasn’t interested in him because Kurt was nothing if a failed mission.

Kurt gulped and jumped in the air when someone whispered behind him.

“Are you going to go in?” Kurt spin around, almost spilling the coffee on himself.

“Blaine?” Kurt breathlessly greet, shoving a cup into Blaine’s chest. “This is for you.”

“Why, thank you.” Blaine accepted the cup and stood there, in front of Kurt, waiting for the other man to say something.

“Hi-“

“I’m sorry.” Blaine cut, impatient to explain himself. “Sorry. I mean sorry for talking over you but also, I’m sorry for everything else.” Blaine started, his brows flattening at his  word vomit.

“Everything?” Kurt bit his bottom lip and looked down at his cup. He had planned a whole speech, in his head he was going to walk to Blaine, sit in front of him and tell him that he wanted answers. Of course none of this was happening and here he was, standing in front of a man he liked, loved, but also a man that had hurt him and played him.

“Yes.” Blaine answered and Kurt solemnly nodded, his heart heavy in his chest. “Because I wasn’t honest and it lead to a situation where you do not trust me anymore and you decided to not contact me for two months. So I’m sorry I hurt you, I’m sorry I had to lie to you but I don’t regret it.” Kurt’s head snapped up at that.

“What?”

“I don’t regret it. I’m sorry that it caused you pain and I would do anything to protect you from any sort of hurt. But I don’t regret what we shared, I don’t regret getting close to you and learning everything there is to know about you, I don’t regret spending time with you and falling for you. I don’t regret any of that.”Blaine laughed humorlessly, running a flat hand on his gelled hair.

“I don’t trust you.” Kurt blurted a little loudly and saw people from the corner of his eye looking at Blaine and him in  confusion.

“I know, I just there is chance I’ll earn your trust back.” Blaine stepped closer, letting his free hand falling to his side and tentatively reaching out to Kurt’s hand.

“I want you to tell me everything about this, about your mission. I don’t need the details of the why, though.” Blaine nodded, brushing his fingers against Kurt “I’m not forgiving you yet, I’m not trusting you and this is not a second chance at whatever. I just want to understand.”

Blaine nodded again, retrieving his hand into his pocket. Kurt reached out to squeeze Blaine’s arm, feeling awful at how dejected Blaine looked. “This is not a second chance, for now.”

“Later?” Blaine asked and Kurt nodded.

“Maybe later, for now tell me, explain this to me. I need to understand.”

“How long do we have?” Obviously Blaine knew that Kurt’s time was counted and Kurt wasn’t even surprised. Blaine knew more of the intricate Ignis laws and protocols then he did apparently, always a step ahead of him. He was also aware that Blaine would have to explain but if Kurt wanted for them to be together he would have to come clean about the reason he had first came up here.

“72 hours give or take.” Blaine started leading them to their old dorm and Kurt let him, knowing that he would be better than the  entrance of a crowded library. When they get to the room Kurt was hit by all the memories he had here but what shocked him most was the unmade bed. The big bed.

“You didn’t move them back?” Kurt wondered, as he looked at Blaine tidying the place as quickly as he could.

“I wanted to believe that there was a chance you’d come back.”

“I came back.” Kurt said, making his way to bed and instinctively crawling into it. He hugged his pillow against his chest and Blaine smiled at him. Just one tiny and shy smile and Kurt almost instantly calmed down, all of his fear washing down with just the curl of a lip. They could make this work.

**Author's Note:**

> wanna say hello: [tumblr](http://framby.tumblr.com/)


End file.
